A rice festival also called Ikki Jathre in local parlance was recently held in Wayanad whereby around 300 varieties of rice were planted on 1.5 acres of land. Thanal, a Kerala-based nonprofit, conducted this groundbreaking conservation experiment at its agroecology center in Panavally, Wayanad.

With a collection of 30 different types of rice, Thanal started the Rice Diversity Block (RDB) at Panavally as part of the Save Our Rice campaign in 2009; it has since grown to 300 varieties. The aim of this festival is to make people aware of the importance of preserving traditional crops that can endure extreme weather conditions. The farmers would bring back seeds from the event and spread them by exchanging them with their friends when they got home from it. The consumption of traditional rice crops is currently being promoted. 

The diverse types of rice are mostly sourced from Kerala, Karnataka, Assam, Tamil Nadu, Arunachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, and West Bengal. There are three traditional rice varieties from Vietnam and Thailand.

 The campaign attempts to increase public awareness of the importance of protecting native crops that can withstand harsh weather. Additionally, the event provides a place for tribal farmers and subject matter experts to work together on knowledge creation and knowledge sharing.

Due to climate change, crops have to undergo tough conditions like extreme heat, changing rainfall patterns, and floods. Therefore, it becomes imperative to promote indigenous variety of crops as they are proven to withstand harsh weather conditions.