Farmers who have brought around 100 hectares under natural farming in Kottuvally panchayat near Kochi have come out with an impressive array of value-added products that include squash and jelly from water hyacinth flowers.
Squash made of a combination of nutmeg fruits and hibiscus flowers, jam produced from nutmeg fruits and robusta bananas, and marigold extract are the other products that catch the attention of ordinary farmers, who are struggling to make both ends meet at a time of immense difficulties stemming from inclement weather and crop losses.
The programme for natural farming and value-added products is being taken up under the Subhiksham, Surakshitham Bharatiya Krishi project, which is financially backed by the Union and State Governments, said sources in the Department of Agriculture.
Farmers from Kottuvally displayed their products as a team of officials, including P.K. Swain, Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Director of Agriculture T.V. Subhash, and District Collector Jaffar Malik, visited the panchayat on Saturday. The officials also visited the farm run by members of Koonammavu St. Joseph’s Boys’ Hostel.
Agriculture Department sources said Kottuvally had taken up the programme to ensure safe food under natural farming. The salt-resistant, traditional rice variety (Pokkali) was among the products presented before the officials.
The initiative at Kottuvally, which uses only natural pesticides and fertilizers, has seen the preservation and extension of cultivation of 65 types of leafy vegetables, including amaranthus, as well as cultivation of traditional varieties of rice, including Raktasali, Daboursala, Karuvachi from Wayanad, Mullikkurva from Wayanad, Njavara, and Kunjan Thondi from Palakkad.
The sources also said that the natural farming initiative had taken up sugarcane cultivation while popularising the cultivation of traditional vegetables and tubers in the State.
