Coast of the Setting Sun - A Possible Winner

 

Resting on a Palu tree

After several attempts and chats on the phone, I finally get to meet him face to face.

And true to his word, from 5 miles away, every stranger on the street can direct me to Jaufer’s. So there is no need for an address.

 As we sit under a vast canopied trellis of Udala or Uda-Ala, he delivers a lengthy description of this species of yam that is almost extinct in Lanka for very few people are growing it and even then, not in commercial quantities.

But is it a yam, a potato or a vegetable of some kind?

This is the craziest trippiest produce I have ever seen. And it is hanging in huge numbers on the delicate vines with large Bulath shaped leaves.

 

Thirty five years back, they were still growing this ancient variety in small patches in home gardens but now it is hard to come by. 

Sri Lanka has over ninety varieties of endemic yam/potato.

His family has continuously propagated this species since God knows when in these arid areas of the North West.

Now Jaufer tries to encourage farmers to grow it in commercial quantities, though no one is bold enough to pay much attention to something they and the consumers are unfamiliar with.

 

It is said, it has little or no Carbohydrate that turn into Glucose. According to the Ayurvedic tradition it does not belong to cool or heat categories either.

 

Me, and A who joins me on this trip to Jaufer’s farm on sand dunes, stare open mouthed at this crazy vine and it’s hanging large potato/yam type that grows as large as a small coconut.

AND, add to the already unreal state, when the vine dies, there are yams underground to be harvested!

It produces from Both Ends and it grows very well in most soil conditions including this hot arid sand I am sitting on.

Each vine puts out an average of 15 kilos in Jaufer’s plot. each fruit can weigh up to 1.2 kg

This is World Hunger Preventing stuff!

 

When he scratches at the sand, just a couple of inches down, the yams that are growing under the soil appears. He tells me that the roots only spread around one foot deep.

I make up my mind to try it in a deep pot, on my balcony.

 

I am presented with seedlings of the crazy potato-yam, seeds of two rare endemic bean varieties and enough recipes for the two heavy ones he has plucked from the vine, with strict instructions about peeling. 

Par boiling is required for some preparations as the flesh could be tough without it or take longer to cook.

The peeled flesh is a beautiful shade of light Avocado green.

That night with my guidance, the cook prepares a curry and the following day, he invents a soup.

The texture and taste is a cross between Breadfruit and a potato. It is really good.

 

Jaufer has turned his land of dunes and straggling beach vegetation into forest strips that alternate between his agricultural strips.

This compliments the fields with entrapped moisture and good living loam he periodically feed his fields with.

 

I crawl into the undergrowth behind Jaufer, and he leads me up the path to a huge Ma-dang tree with winding and twisted branches parallel to the forest floor. It is as if the small forest patches are air conditioned; very cool compared to the burning hot fields outside A is standing on. The forest is full of lush vines and twisted majestic trees that include wild orchids, Ebony, Palu and medicinal plants that can be used for pest control, instead of chemicals. It is unexpected on a sand dune.

 

With natural fertilizer and organic pest control used on the vegetables he is growing, Jaufer has managed to convince some farmers to follow suit, and they have seen amazing results.

Because of this gently growing following, their produce is bought by the Agricultural Department in the area at almost triple the price, and I meet two people from the Department who is visiting door to door, monitoring the land, at another home plot.

 

Jaufer is hoping for a break through with his Udala, and I promise him I will do my best to put the word out. 

Neighbour converts in Organic farming