A book with one hundred and one success stories of people who have worked hard and achieved their dream is inspirational. But when the book has stories of those who toil hard in the field and worked out ways to make a commercial success of their farming ventures, it is one for the bookshelf.
Ponkathirukal is a compendium brought out by Agricultural Technology Management Agency (ATMA) in Ernakulam district and released here recently. ATMA is a registered agency funded by the Union and State Governments.
Vegetables, paddy and banana cultivation; dairy, animal husbandry and aquaculture are all in this representative collection, which is the result of a lot of legwork by ATMA officials, with each of the panchayats in the district submitting at least 10 success stories to be considered for the collection.
The compendium opens with the story of George Thomas from Thirumaradi, who took to integrated farming and adopted hi-tech farming techniques to achieve surprising results. He says that an investment of Rs. 20,000 in a farmstead can earn up to Rs. 3 lakh a year.
Rama Sudhi from Chennamangalam, near Paravoor, has proved that dairying is a profitable business. She keeps five milch cows in her seven-cent farm, feeding them also with grass grown in an acre she has taken on lease. She says that she has a return of about Rs. 70,000 a year from milk sales.
M. M. Ismail from Chennamangalam, has made a success of his keen interest in banana cultivation.
He has taken to organic cultivation of bananas in about two acres. Joseph Sebastian from Elanji has proved that hi-tech poly house and soilless farming are suited to the State. He says that a production of 35 tonnes can be achieved per hectare.
V.E. Abdullah, a farmer from Thottumugham, near Aluva, has tweaked the traditional methods of paddy cultivation to augment production. He says his venture produces 3,300 kg per hectare.
