ALAPPUZHA: The flower farming initiative of Agriculture Minister P Prasad at his rented house at Cherthala has been a huge success. The minister, aided by local residents, began harvesting the flowers, mostly marigolds, on nearly 30 cents of land at his house on Monday.
Prasad said he mainly farmed marigolds of three colours. “The flowers have bloomed and the harvesting started. Many people are coming here to buy them. The same experiment last year was a success, and so it was decided to carry out farming on a larger scale. Around 3,000 orange, white and yellow marigold flowers have been cultivated, along with vegetables and arrowroot plants,” Prasad said.
Buyers can purchase the flowers from the minister’s residence at reasonable rates during Onam. “After harvesting is over, the land will be used for vegetable farming,” he said
Flower farming is being carried out on a large scale in Cherthala, Prasad’s assembly constituency, this Onam. A number of farmers, women’s self-help groups, and farmer groups are cultivating marigold, Ceylon slitwort, Globe amaranth, and other flowers on vast swathes of land. Meanwhile, in Kanjikuzhy grama panchayat, which is a significant producer of flowers in the region, floriculture has been undertaken on more than 25 acres. Panchayat vice-president M Santhosh Kumar said there is a huge demand for locally-produced flowers for laying floral carpets during Onam.