As the three-day long organic agriculture mela at Mankulam comes to an end on Saturday, the first phase of a long project to turn the village into the first organic village in the country has materialised. People turned up in hordes at the various venues of mela.
The survey for making Mankulam the first organic village under the Idukki Organic Project, was started in 2005, and by 2011 it is set to become the first certified organic village in the country. The project is being implemented by the Thodupuzha-based Kerala Agriculture Development Society (KADS) as the nodal agency in association with the National Centre for Organic Farming, Spices Board, Mankulam grama panchayat and Krishi Bhavan
Mankulam has been selected to implement the project in view of its least use of pesticides and fertilizers, thanks to the highly fertile soil in the region. Its weather condition was also favourable for traditional ways of cultivation.
To get the organic certification, farmers have to pass the C-1,C-2 and C-3 tests. A top official of KADS said that 1,063 farmers are already eligible for the certification after passing the three tests.
Coffee, tea, cardamom, pepper, fruits, vegetable and tubers are cultivated in vast areas in the village, and there is already a high domestic demand for vegetables and fruits from Mankulam. In the last agriculture mela held at Trichur, the organic produce of the village had a high stake, he said.
Farmers are getting a better price for organic produce and international market will be elicited to keep the project more beneficial to the farmers. Since the project began, there is high interest among the farmers in getting organic certification, he said.
Though road communication to the village was very poor till recently, it indirectly helped farmers in following the traditional ways of cultivation and prevented them from using pesticides or fertilisers, said the official.
Various programmes including distribution of vegetable seeds, exhibition of farming equipment and workshop on farming methods, were organised in connection with the mela. A unique feature was that large number of farmers from outside the district visited the mela venue to know about the farming methods in Mankulam.
Source: The Hindu
