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Articles

Vol. 3 No. S1 (2026): Representations of Crisis in Literature

Agrarian Crisis and Seed Science: An Eco-Cinematic Study of the Tamil Film Kadaisi Vivasayi

Submitted
14 December 2025
Published
2026-02-28

Abstract

Agrarian crisis refers to the issues related to the declining lives of farmers and distress situation in the agricultural sector. The Tamil film Kadaisi Vivasayi (The Last Farmer) taken for the research focusses on the crisis in traditional farming, seed science and aesthetics of nature. The increase in the use of external seeds, disappearance of traditional seed varieties and reliance on hybrid seeds in farming made the setting to research on the view of seed science. Under seed science, it is necessary to understand the improving seed production and breeding, along with the changes made in the agricultural sector aimed to improve the production. This has made the farming industry increasingly reliant on the corporate world. The primary objective of the study is to critically examine the Tamil film Kadaisi Vivasayi from an eco-cinematic perspective with socio-cultural dimensions. The research will assess the cultural and ecological significance of traditional farming through the protagonist, Mayandi, a veteran farmer of eighty years. Ramaiah is a character in the film who personifies the struggle of staying righteous in a flawed world, this ultimately leads others to perceive him as mentally unstable. The intersection of multiple events, characters, nature, human empathy, government regulations, divinity, and law creates a holistic representation of the agrarian crisis, offering an eco-cinematic perspective that shapes the scope of this study.

References

  1. Altieri, M. A. Agroecology: the science of sustainable agriculture. CrC press, 2018.
  2. Baskin, Carol C., and Jerry M. Baskin. Seeds: Ecology, Biogeography, and Evolution of Dormancy and Germination. 2nd ed., Academic Press, 2014.
  3. Kadaisi Vivasayi. Directed by M. Manikandan. India: Tribal Arts Production, 2021.
  4. Kibblewhite, M. G., Ritz, K., & Swift, M. J. Soil health in agricultural systems. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 363 (1492), 2008, 685-701.
  5. Pimentel, D. Environmental and economic costs of the application of pesticides primarily in the United States. Environment, development and sustainability, 7(2), 2005, 229-252.
  6. Shiva, Vandana. Stolen Harvest: The Hijacking of the Global Food Supply. South End Press, 2000.

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