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Traditional Seed Saver needs your help...

Dear All,
A farmer saves 150 varieties of traditional paddy against all systemic odds because he believes that this needs to be done. A farmer whose work benefits many other farmers across the state and inspired others across the country. Nel Jayaraman, is going through a health crisis that needs not just careful attention and much love, but, also financial help in this world that doesn’t care for people who do such work.
It has been a privilege to have got to know him and about his work.
Details regarding his ailment and financial help and how you can contribute are below in this mail. Helping such people is a way of sustaining faith that world cares for those who work for a larger cause. Every contribution sustains this faith. Please contribute.
Thank you.
ram
chief, samanvaya
From: ananthoo organic [mailto:organicananthoo@gmail.com

Dear friends,

kindly contribute and more importantly- circulate and get more contributions to help meet the medical expenses of nel jayaraman. The account details are below in this mail.

Save The Saviour - Nel Jayaraman is seriously ill and needs support

 Nel Jayaraman. An organic farmer, environmentalist and a farmer-leader from Adirangam village, Tiruvarur District, Tamil Nadu. A change-maker passionate about organic farming inspired by Dr Nammalavar, the organic farming guru. A humble man, a school-drop-out from a modest background blessed with a large vision for sustainable food and farming. At 51, a family man with a wife and a 11-year old son.
 Joining the Save our Rice (SOR) Campaign, a national movement to conserve and promote traditional varieties of paddy, he has revived about 150 traditional paddy varieties over ten years. These are cultivated every year in the CREATE Organic Training Centre farm and the farms of associated farmers in the Delta region. Today, thanks to these efforts, 40,000 farmers have adopted organic cultivation of traditional rices.
Organizing the Adirangam Paddy Festival held annually in May, bringing together farmers from near and far to exchange seeds of traditional varieties of rice, Jayaraman achieved what governments could not. It was here that farmers carried home traditional paddy seeds with a promise to bring back twice that amount for the Festival the following year. As the popularity of this Festival grew from its debut in 2005 to 2016, when over 6,000 farmers converged to save our traditional varieties of rice, over a hundred and fifty rice varieties were preserved, grown and consumed by thousands !
Recipient of a number of awards and recognitions, Jayaraman won the Best Organic Farmer Award in 2012 and 2013 from the Agriculture Department of the Government of TN. In 2013, he won the Best Genome Saviour Award of the Dhan Foundation, Madurai, and the Best Genome Saviour Award of the National Innovation Foundation (NIF), which he received from The President of India. He has won awards from TNAU, the District level best Genome Saviour award from Thiruvarur District Collector and the Best Genome Saviour award from Dinamalar in 2014.
 That is our Nel Jayaraman.
With this stupendous work on Nel (“Paddy” in Tamil) now engraved indelibly into his name, Jayaraman is truly a saviour of these rices.
But this rice warrior is in Chennai today battling Malignant Melanoma. The treatment protocol, a combination of Immunotherapy and Siddha, calls for a spend of over Rs 10 lakhs, which Jayaraman cannot afford.
 We, his friends and colleagues, are reaching out to all those who care for farmers, who care for the food our children eat, who care for the agro-bio-diversity of our environment, like you and me, to stand with Jayaraman, contribute financially and pray for his recovery. Just so, he can get back to the work that has defined him.
 Please come forward to help our dear friend, fellow traveller, the indefatigable  Nel Jayaraman fight and win this battle!
 Towards this end, we seek financial (and any other) support from all of you who understand the tremendous value of what he has achieved and his invaluable potential. Please do send your contribution to the account (that of his brother) below.Please do send an SMS or WhatsApp message confirming payment with details to Sridhar @ 09995358205. We will be sending regular updates to all.
 K Panneerselvam
A/c no: 535638773,
Indian Bank, Thiruthuraipoondi branch,
IFSC Code: IDIB000T042
 Contact for more details:
Sridhar R, Thanal – 09995358205
Ananthoo, Chennai – 09444166779
Raju Paneerselam (Jayaramans brother’s son) – 09952787998
-- 
Warm regards
Ananthoo
http://indiaforsafefood.in/

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