Joy Joseph, a farmer at Onpathekkar, visited the exhibition hall of the College of Agriculture, Vellayani, at Upputhara here as part of a 10-day village co-living programme organised by the final-year degree students, to seek advice on ways to control pest infection in his pepper farm. He also wanted to take up vegetable cultivation. After consultations, he realised that some pest control measures adopted by him were not effective, but harmful too.
The programme served to make farmers aware of good agriculture practices, and gave students practical knowledge on the different methods of cultivation practised in Upputhara, one of the earliest settled areas in the High Ranges.
“Some areas had unique and traditional methods of cultivation. The workshop gave us insight into the vast experiences gained by farmers in preserving the seeds, simple methods of pest-control and increasing farm output,” said one of the students.
They also collected the general details of the pest-infection on plants and how it posed a threat to farming. Soil testing was conducted free of cost at the venue in addition to free distribution of booklets on farming and dairy farming.
Entrepreneurs keen on starting agro-based units and supplying value-added products were given advice by experts. The programme included imparting training to farmers, agro-clinic services, farmers’ meet, agriculture exhibition and farm visits. The students were divided into groups and they made informal visit to farmers’ houses. The interaction provided farmers an opportunity to share their experiences with the students.
According to Sudarsan, an organic spice farmer, the agro-clinic helped him to get details about some diseases that frequently affected his farm. As he was following organic spice cultivation, including cardamom, expert opinion on pest-control measures were lacking. “Farmers usually seek the opinion of those in pesticide outlets. That has resulted in increased use of chemical pesticides and harmed the plants and soil. The availability of the team in the village was a rare opportunity,” he said.
The programme was organised by the Kerala Agricultural University, in association with the Upputhara grama panchayat, Agriculture Department, Agriculture Technology Management Agency (ATMA), Idukki, and the State Horticulture Mission. The camp ended on Monday.
