Visitors can now pluck strawberry and other cool-season vegetables from a Horticorp farm on Silent Valley Road in Munnar.
Horticorp has launched the initiative with a view to woo tourists to its 2.5-acre farm, where strawberry is the main crop. Visitors can also taste farm-fresh drinks of strawberry and other fruits.
An official says the farm is receiving good response from the public despite the COVID-19 outbreak, which had resulted in a drop in visitors to the hill station in the past. He says almost all cool-season vegetables are grown at the farm and visitors can pluck farm fresh vegetables too.
However, strawberry is the major attraction, he says, adding that nearly 50 kg of strawberry is sold daily at the farm. The main varieties of strawberry are nebula and camarosa. Due to the high price in the general market, a kilogram of strawberry is sold at ₹600 now.
A fruit processing plant is also functioning at the farm and fresh value-added products of strawberry and other fruits are available. Most of the customers are visitors to Munnar and enjoy a cup of strawberry juice sold at ₹40 here. The project for promoting farming was launched by Horticorp in Munnar with a view to attracting the tourists visiting Munnar, he says.
Horticorp was instrumental in promoting strawberry cultivation in the Munnar region, especially in the cool-season vegetable cultivating village of Kanthallur. Munnar and Kanthallur are the main centres of strawberry cultivation in the district. Strawberry needs eight to nine months to grow and harvesting has started in the Munnar region now.
A cool climate without much rain is needed for the fruit and the Munnar region has been identified the best in soil and climate for strawberry cultivation.
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