Date:01/09/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/09/01/stories/2008090155600600.htm

Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

Chengal vegetable farms to be harvested on Wednesday

Special Correspondent

‘1000 Vegetable Villages’ scheme bears fruit

Nature’s bounty: Farmers tending to snake gourds in an organic farm at Chengal in Thiruvananthapuram.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: As many as 25 farmers in the suburban Chengal grama panchayat are preparing for a bountiful harvest ahead of the Onam festival season.

Spread over an area of five hectares, their fields have yielded a rich crop of snake gourd, bitter gourd, beans, cucumber and amaranthus. The farmers in Chengal had taken up horticulture under the State-wide government-sponsored ‘1000 Vegetable Villages’ scheme. They are now doubly proud because Chengal has been chosen for the State-wide inauguration of the first harvest scheduled to be held on September 3.

The first phase of the ‘1000 Vegetable Villages’ scheme covered 140 villages. A vegetable village unit comprises a group of 25 to 50 farmers cultivating vegetables on at least five hectares. The stakeholders include local youth, women and students. The farmers are also provided with agricultural equipment, farm loans and technical advice.

Minister for Agriculture Mullakkara Ratnakaran is scheduled to inaugurate the harvest at Chengal on September 3.