Mangaluru: A quiet effort is under way to conserve ‘kempu tirulina mullu saute’, a traditional salad cucumber once common along the coast of Karnataka but is now vanishing even from kitchen gardens.According to agricultural expert and Adike Patrike editor Shree Padre, this deep-rooted variety was never popular with commercial farmers. “It was grown for decades, but today there is a drastic fall in the number of farmers growing this variety. Sirsi in Uttara Kannada is probably the only place where it still survives in a few home gardens,” he said, warning that the variety deserves to be on the Red List of endangered crops.Unlike high-yield hybrids, this variety of ‘mullu saute’ or salad cucumber never reached the markets. Only a small section of people are aware of it, and many families who once nurtured it in backyard patches have stopped doing so. Padre said while it may not compete in yield, its taste and crispness are unmatched. The cucumber has a subtle sweetness, a yellowish inner pulp, and is best eaten raw in salads. “Even if it is a little costlier, people will choose it for the flavour. It could easily find a place in star hotel menus or homestays,” he said. Getting seeds, however, is a challenge, as farmers often lose them to wild animals. Padre has been distributing seeds to those interested in reviving it.Vinayak Bhat Naroor, who grows it at his house in Sirsi, said yields may be late and lesser compared to hybrids. “This year, continuous rains delayed it further. Adding to this is monkey menace, and protecting the crop is a battle few are willing to fight,” he said. With younger generations moving to cities, interest in such traditional crops is dwindling.There is hope. Suresh Nayak, a commercial farmer from Hiriyadka, Udupi, experimented with around 100 plants this year. “Everyone who tasted it appreciated its flavour. Unlike other cucumbers that turn soft quickly, this one stays fresh longer. We prepared 350 plants, but rains damaged most of them. Still, we will scale it up based on customer feedback,” he said. As the word about this variety began to spread, Nayak has even received inquiries from Maharashtra. We have people from Mangaluru, coming for this variety, he added
