Even though this year’s Onam is three months away, the festival mood has already gripped the Government Agricultural Farm at Kottukkal, near Anchal, in Kollam.
Over 700 workers under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) attached to the Ittiva grama panchayat have started preparing about 100 acres of the farm to grow organic vegetables meant for Onam.
The activity is to remain in tune with the scheme announced by district panchayat president S. Jayamohan that all efforts will be taken to provide organically grown native vegetables to the people of the district for Onam.
It was the success of last year’s experiment in this connection on 30 acres of the farm that prompted the district panchayat to expand it to 100 acres this time.
Mr. Jayamohan will formally inaugurate the sowing of seeds for the scheme on May 30.
The seeds to be sown are those produced in the farm itself. According to farm superintendent N. Chandrasekharan, the thrust is on 10 native vegetables which the State now heavily depends on imports from neighbouring States – bitter gourd, eggplant, snake gourd, long beans, ladies finger, pumpkin, ivy gourd, cucumber, bottle gourd and green chillies.
Apart from these, ash gourd, amaranth and about 2,000 saplings of the Nenthran variety of banana would also be grown, Mr. Chandrasekharan said.
MGNRES joint programme coordinator for the scheme, Subash Babu, said the workers had already prepared over 50 acres at the farm. Unseasonal rain hampered the progress of the work a bit, but 100 acres would be ready in time for the cultivation.
Mr. Jayamohan said that at the initiative of the district panchayat, a passion for organic vegetables had gripped the people of Kollam. Five years ago more then 16 tonnes of vegetables from neighbouring States entered the district each day. “This got reduced to 6 tonnes now as a good majority of the people have started cultivating the native vegetables they need.” He said the change had come on realisation that imported vegetables contain high pesticide residue.
He said that the aim was to make the district self-sufficient in organically grown native vegetables in one year.
