THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The inaugural Oommen Chandy Memorial Farmer Award for overall contribution in the agricultural sector will be presented to Cheruvayal Raman, a Padma Shri awardee from Wayanad. Declaring the Kerala State Farm Awards for 2025 on Sunday, Agriculture Minister T Siddique announced that the award carries a cash prize of Rs 5 lakh.
Anita M Kasim was picked for the top prize in the Urban Rooftop Farmer category while Dolly Varghese received the Udyana Sreshtha (Gardening Excellence) Award. The 38 awards, including the three new categories, will be presented by Chief Minister V D Satheesan at the state-level Farmer’s Day celebration slated to be held on August 17 at the Ashish Convention Centre, Kalamassery, in Kochi.
Koduvally block panchayat and Ulikkal grama panchayat shared the C Achutha Menon Memorial Award; Krishi Bhavan, Kuttoor, Tiruvalla, won the Raghavan Memorial Award. Both these categories will have a cash prize of Rs 5 lakh each.
The Nenmeni Paddy Producer Padashekhara Samiti was chosen for the Padma Shri K Viswanathan (Mitraniketan) Memorial Nelkathir Award, while K K Xavier was chosen for the Kera Kesari Award.
The Sibi Kallinkal Memorial Karshakothama Award will be presented to Raja Narayanan of Thiruvilwamala.
Hashiq K of Pozhuthana was named the Best Young Farmer while Adithyan K A of Cherthala was chosen the Best Student Farmer.
A special project for women named ‘Krishi Sakhi’ has also been launched as part of celebrating 2026 as the Women Farmers’ Year, Minister Siddique said.
CM to present awards
Award carries a cash prize of Rs 5 lakh. The 38 awards, including the three new categories, will be presented by Chief Minister V D Satheesan at the state-level Farmer’s Day celebration to be held on August 17 at the Ashish Convention Centre, Kalamassery, in Kochi