THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: For the third year in a row, Kadinamkulam panchayat will offer a vegetable and banana bumper harvest during the Onam season. Thanks to the efforts of some 1,500 women, the panchayat is set to harvest some 140,000 bananas and a range of vegetables cultivated through multiple cropping vegetables in 180-acre fallow land holdings spread over 23 wards.
“The fallow land cultivation has been included in the MGNREG programme. We had entered into an agreement with the owner of the fallow land, promising him to pay some 20 per cent of the profit earned from the agricultural produce,” said Ramachandran, Agriculture Extension Officer (AEO), MGNREG, Kadinamkulam grama panchayat.
According to the AEO, some 84 self-help groups in the panchayat are involved in farming. “Each group consists of five to 15 workers. They were entrusted with the upkeep of two to two-and-half acres of land. Each of this plot consists of around 1,000 plantains and varieties like amaranthus, ladies finger, chilli, snake-gourd and others. They are organic and safe to consume,” adds Ramachandran.
Panchayat president Felix P said that special Onam outlets will be opened across the panchayats to sell products at reasonable price. The surplus will be handed over either to Horticrop or to neighbouring panchayats. The panchayat has also undertaken group farming as some 20 groups under the Kudumbasree Mission are successfully carrying out initiatives like ornamental plant cultivation.