THRISSUR: Become self-sufficient and provide the inmates a chance to be with nature. Those were the twin aims when the Viyyur Central Prison in Thrissur began promoting vegetable farming with the support of the Kerala Agriculture University. The efforts by the prison authorities and the inmates have turned fruitful as close to 50 tonnes of vegetables have been harvested this fiscal.
The Viyyur Central Prison — which currently has 1,120 inmates — turned the unused land within its compound into a productive farmland. The major crops cultivated include a variety of peas, snake gourd, amaranthus, papaya, tapioca, Chinese potato (koorkka), cucumber, tomato, curry leaves, ladies finger, pumpkin, and cabbage. Small quantities of pepper, coconut, and irumban puli were also harvested.
“Farming activities serve to ease the prisoners’ stress. It also ensures a livelihood for many on their release from jail after completing their terms,” Viyyur Central Prison superintendent K Anilkumar told TNIE.
Around 55% of the monthly vegetable requirement of the prison was met through the in-house farming, he pointed out.
“The prison’s monthly expenses for the purchase of vegetables was cut down by almost half, from around Rs 12 lakh to around Rs 6 lakh, by promoting vegetable farming,” the officer said.
The Viyyur prison has also been rearing cattle with around 2,200 litres of milk being produced every month, meeting about 65% of its dairy requirement.
“As a step towards being environment-friendly, the freedom counter in front of the prison compound has been selling biryani in plantain leaf, avoiding aluminium containers. Thereby, we also put into use plantain leaves which otherwise would have gone unused,” Anilkumar added.
Setting another trend, the central prison also cultivated flowers before the Onam season last year. A profit of Rs 18,000 was paid to the government from cultivating flowers, mainly orange and yellow Marigold.
Spread over 135 acres, the Viyyur Central Prison compound houses the high-security prison, district jail, sub-jail, and the women’s jail, besides the staff quarters. That leaves around 22 acres for vegetable farming.
“Wild boars have been a major threat to farming, but we have been evading crop destruction through effective prevention methods like building a compound wall around the farmland,” Anilkumar added.
Top harvests at Viyyur Prison
Crop Yield (As on Jan 31, 2025)
Banana 1,550 kg
Bottle gourd 1,012 kg
Snake gourd 554.5 kg
Ladies finger 256.3 kg
Ivy gourd 397.2 kg
Pumpkin 397.2 kg
Cabbage 177 kg
