Mangaluru: With the goal of teaching farming skills to young minds, the Dakshina Kannada Zilla Panchayat Higher Primary School at Maji in Bantwal taluk is engaged in cultivating paddy, vegetables and also planting arecanut saplings.

Also, to check the dwindling numbers of children in the government-run school, school authorities have started pre-primary education with the help of old students association and is planning to start English medium from the sixth standard in future.

headmaster Narayana Poojary said that the school had cultivated paddy on a one-acre fallow land situated adjacent to the school last year to teach the skills of farming to children. With the help of members of SDMC, Shree Kshethra Dharmasthala Rural Development Project (SKDRDP) and Odiyooru Yojane, a tiller was used for levelling the field and a pair of buffaloes were used for ploughing.

In fact, 400 bunches of paddy saplings were planted by the children along with members of SKDRDP, SDMC. The children were taken to the field a few times to educate them how paddy grows by showing them the ear of paddy stocks, application of manure and application of insecticides. After the harvest, the students were joined by parents in completing the process of threshing paddy.

Finally, the school was able to reap 8 quintals of paddy. The freshly harvested rice was used to prepare a meal (“Hosa Akki Oota”) for all those who helped in the success of paddy cultivation.

Also, 50 arecanut saplings have been planted. Each child in the school is entrusted with the responsibility of nurturing a plant daily.

Vegetables are supplied from the school garden to meet the requirement of the mid-day meals. Ivy gourd, chilli, long yard beans, brinjal, okra, ash gourd, bottle gourd are cultivated. In fact, last year, the school was able to harvest 40 kg of ivy gourd per week. After meeting the requirement for mid-day meals, the remaining quantity was given to children to take it home.

This year, to show terrace gardening, vegetables have been grown in gardening terrace bags. This is to teach the children that vegetables can be cultivated in bags as well, said the headmaster.

The pre-primary school has a strength of 48 children. The honorary teachers and a helper are paid by an old student Santhosh Kumar Shetty and the SDMC members.

The school which is 97 years old has Warli paintings on its walls. Tiles have been laid in the classrooms with the help of alumni. There are 58 children pursuing their education from the first to seventh standard in the school.