Vegetable farming lures city dwellers

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The vegetable cultivation drive called ‘Pachakkari Samridhi Nadinnum Nagarathinum’, launched by the chief minister in May has turned to be a big success in the city.

The district Agri-Horticulture Society in coordination with Vegetable and Fruit Promotion Council Kerala (VFPCK), is implementing the campaign with the support of residents’ associations and the Better Kochi Response Group. More than 20, 000 families have been provided seedlings and the authorities find it difficult to meet the growing demand from the public.

“The campaign is getting an exciting response from the public which has never happened in the past. People are more aware of the health hazards of consuming pesticides-filled vegetables from other states”, said Sivadas B. Menon of Better Kochi Response Group.

The scheme aims at promoting terrace farming in every household and thus making the district self-reliant in vegetable production. When launching the campaign, the plan was to produce safe to eat vegetables for Onam.

“Now, the seedlings are being distributed at a 75 per cent subsidy. Those who started terrace farming as part of the scheme are doing it in a successful manner. However, there are challenges like lack of rain”, Sivadas Menon said.

Encouraged by the current success of the scheme, the horticulture department authorities have decided to introduce the scheme in schools and government institutions which show a keen interest in taking up the venture. The government had sanctioned Rs2 crore towards the first phase of the programme, which is aimed at helping 12,500 families set up terrace gardens.

Each family is provided a unit of 20 vegetable seedlings planted in UV stabilized bags filled with potting soil.

In the second phase, all panchayats and municipalities in the district will be included in the scheme and one lakh families will be brought under the programme.

The drive will be soon taken to other districts like Kottayam and Kozhikode, said sources at the State Horticulture Department.