PATHANAMTHITTA : For as far as the eye can see, red fields dot the landscape at Pandalam Thekkekara grama panchayat in Pathanamthitta. It is the harvest time of spinach and the red that one sees on the fields here is exactly that. Devised as a project to end the monopoly on vegetables that other states enjoy in the market, the mass cultivation of spinach has earned the panchayat here the moniker ‘Spinach Village’.
“We started the project to end the monopoly of other states in the vegetable market. As the first step towards self-sufficiency, we decided to make our local body a ‘spinach village’. Spinach is after all a favourite vegetable for Keralites and very healthy. Besides, we had a lot of traditional farmers who focused on it,” said S Rajendraprasad, the president of the grama panchayat.
“The project is indeed very successful and farmers are getting good prices for their product,” Rajendraprasad said.
Spinach requires 6 weeks from seeding to harvest. The short cycle means that multiple harvests can be had in a single year. “Once we plant the seeds, we can harvest the spinach in a month. Once the harvesting is completed, farmers will resume cultivation without any gap. So we are sure that our village will not face a shortage of spinach,” Rajendraprasad added.
The panchayat is executing the project with the help of Krishi Bhavan. “We give seeds free of cost to the farmers. Now, more villagers are coming forward to start spinach cultivation. After meeting the demand here, we will market the spinach outside. Kudumbashree conducts ‘chantha’ (market) three days a week. This will be tapped to sell our produce,” Rajendraprasad said.