Kudumbashree cultivating vegetables, flowers in 14,000 acres for Onam

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Members of the Soundarya joint liability group under the Kudumbashree’s Kottayi community development society in Kuzhalmannam block in Palakkad district organising a planting festival.

Onam is a celebration of prosperity and its biggest marker is the abundance of the harvest. As always, the Kudumbashree mission in the State has geared up to ensure the that nature’s bounty can add to the richness of the Onam festivities.

With an eye on the profitable Onam market, the mission has embarked on two programmes – Onakkani and Nirapolima – to ensure availability of quality, pesticide-free vegetables and fruits as part of the Kudumbashree’s farm livelihood initiative.

Around 14,000 acres of land is being cultivated across the State by the Kudumbashree farmers – vegetable cultivation on 12,000 acres and flower cultivation on 2,000 acres, says S. Shanavas, State Programme Officer, Kudumbashree’s Farm Livelihood vertical.

The vegetables to be cultivated include different types of beans, lady’s finger, tomato, chilli, brinjal, pumpkin, bitter gourd, snake gourd, bottle gourd, and ash gourd. Among flowers, mostly marigolds will be cultivated, though support will be given if farmers want to grow other flowers too.

Targets have been decided for each district. In vegetable cultivation (Onakkani), the Kudumbashree joint liability groups (JLGs) that do the cultivation have been allotted 1,400 acres in Thiruvananthapuram, the highest. Idukki, Thrissur, Kasaragod, Kollam, and Malappuram too have large swathes of land under vegetable cultivation.

Idukki and Malappuram districts lead when it comes to flower cultivation (Nirapolima) – 230 acres each. Thiruvananthapuram, Thrissur, and Kannur districts too have around 200 acres under flower cultivation.

Mr. Shanavas says they aim to make the two schemes a success by ensuring convergence with other government departments and getting the support of local bodies.

The Kudumbashree also plans to strenghten its over 350 Jaivika plant nurseries as part o