KOCHI: In Thrissur’s Mattathur village, 90 per cent of households have a direct or indirect connection with the Guruvayur Sree Krishna temple, the foremost pilgrimage centre in south India. It’s not a tie stemming solely from faith. The village situated around 56 km east from the prominent temple town has been supplying around half of the plantain (kadali variety) requirement of the temple on a daily basis since 2009 as part of a ‘Kadalivanam’ project.
At present, around 90 per cent of the landholdings in the village have kadali orchards and the Mattathur Labour Cooperative Society (MLCS) is redefining the fate of the village by heralding a change in the traditional farming sector. The society was instrumental in bringing together traditional farmers under one roof under the patronage of Education Minister C Ravindranath as part of a unique model worth emulating across the state.
In fact, the initiative launched by the society in the Puthukkad constituency, under the Kodakara sustainable development project, was conceived by Ravindranath who represents the Assembly constituency. It was a path-breaking step towards reviving the sagging fortunes of a traditional farming village. On an average, the Guruvayur temple requires 10,000-12,000 plantains a day for its daily rituals. The ‘Kadalivanam’ project had been supplying around 4,000 plantains per day to the temple.
There are around 800 registered farmers and farm labourers in the society who undertake kadali cultivation in each house according to a pre-planned farming calendar. At present, there are around 1 lakh plantain crops in the village; each farmer engaged in the cultivation gets a price of R2.50 per plantain. On an average, 1 kg of plantain fetches around R50 per kg for farmers. Since the cultivation is based on a buyback agreement between the Devaswom and MLCS, the fluctuation in market prices does not affect the farmers and they get a steady income from the cultivation.
Apart from the plantain, the farmers get a reasonable price for saplings and rhizomes of the crops, and crop insurance and bonus. Now, with production scaling a new high, the society is planning to launch a manufacturing unit to produce value-added products like kadali halwa, rasayanam (an ayurvedic medicine), jam, kadali payasam mix, cake and perfume.
A bouquet of offerings
The society has grown from its small-scale operations to include medicinal plant cultivation (oushada vanam), turmeric cultivation (manjal vanam) and flower village (poo gramam) projects, in association with members of the district Kudumbashree mission and progressive farmers and students in Mattathur and neighbouring villages in the constituency. The MLCS has also reached a buyback agreement with leading Ayurvedic medicine manufacturers, including state-run Oushadi.
The farmers in the Mattathur and neighbouring villages are also a happy lot as the farming of various crops suggested by the society provides them with a guaranteed income for their produce around the year, irrespective of market fluctuations. “If the middlemen in the farming sector had been making money in the past, the scenario has changed with the emergence of the labour collective,” said Ajithakumari, a member of the Farmers Club under the Society. “Farmers no longer have to depend on local traders who would end up fleecing them. Farmers are relieved they don’t have to live a hand-to-mouth existence anymore.”
Growing gourds and herbs
Since 2015, the society has been supplying 4,000 kg of bitter gourd collected from the society’s farmers each week to Oushadi as an Ayurvedic ingredient. As per the buyback agreement between the society and Oushadi, the farmer will get R26 per kg, irrespective of market prices. If there is a major fluctuation in the market for a period of more than six months, the farmers will get a proportional hike in prices and if there is a price crash for a prolonged period, the farmers will be insulated from the ill-effects of the crash, said K P Prashanth, secretary of MLCS.
The registered farmers have been cultivating medicinal plants like kurunthotti (Common wireweed ), shatavari (Asparagus), aadalodakam (Malabar Nut), sarppagandhi (Indian snakeroot), koduveli (Indian leadwort), adapathiyan kizhang (Holostemma creeper), orila, moovila, kacholam, kiriyathu, kattu padavalam (pointed gourd) and iruveli in 50 acres of the village. Besides, the society has taken steps to begin turmeric cultivation in 250 acres in nearby areas as there is a huge demand for locally-produced turmeric.
All these come at a time when the urban population continues to grow at a rapid pace and residents are increasingly turning to “city agriculture” to meet the rising demand for locally-grown vegetables. According to senior officers in the Agriculture Department, the model set by the MLCS is the ideal farming system for the state. The fact is, there are around 600 labour societies in the state and hardly 10 per cent of them are actively engaged in farming. The rest of them exist on paper to claim subsidies and incentives set aside for various projects.
Agriculture Minister V S Sunilkumar, said the department has been actively supporting genuine societies by providing them saplings, subsidies and guidance. “Kerala can prosper in the traditional agriculture sector by forming labour collectives like MLCS. Since we can’t afford large-scale farming as land is scarce in the tiny state, promoting small-scale sustainable farming is the way forward to meet our requirements,” said the Minister.
“We are not expecting any government subsidies for various cultivations,” said Prashanth.
“If the department can support farmers by providing a bonus in proportion to their produce, it would be a big morale booster for them. Around 300 tribals routinely supply medicinal plants collected from forests to the society; there are also provisions for them to sell the produce through the Vana Samrakshan Samithi of the Forest Department. It means the buyback policy provides them with a guaranteed good remuneration for their produce which is more reliable as there are no middlemen to fleece them.”
