The Kozhikode Corporation launched Samrudhi 2020, a mission to promote agriculture in the city, on Tuesday. An emergency meeting chaired by Mayor Thottathil Raveendran discussed the possible shortage of food in the wake of the lockdown and concluded that urgent steps were necessary to overcome similar situations in future. An action committee headed by the Mayor has been formed to ensure that the mission is being carried out on a war footing.
Under the mission, all cultivable land in the city, especially public land, will be identified and converted into agriculture land. The plan is to have additional ten hectares for paddy cultivation, three hectares for tapioca cultivation and two hectares for vegetables. At least 70% of homesteads in the city should have one or the other kind of cultivation, the meeting decided.
A WhatsApp group will be formed to coordinate the activities of the mission and to create awareness about various schemes and government subsidies. Several government programmes, such as Ayyankali Employment Guarantee Scheme, schemes of the Agriculture Department and those of the corporation will be converged for better results. Ward councillors will be in charge of the mission at local level. Residents’ associations can identify land for the purpose. Organic manure produced at the corporation’s Njeliyanparamba waste treatment plant will be supplied to farmers at subsidised rates.
ADVERTISEMENT