Kerala Minerals and Metals Ltd (KMML) on Wednesday reaped a rich harvest of paddy cultivated on the premises of the company targeting Onam.
‘Bhagya’, a seed variety that can be harvested in 90 days was used for the cultivation in 1.5 acres of land. With the aim of imparting agricultural knowledge to the new generation, the harvest festival was conducted with the participation of NSS volunteers from Baby John Memorial Government College, Chavara. KMML managing director J.Chandrabose inaugurated the festival while the process was completed with the help of harvesting machine from the office of the Agricultural Executive Engineer under Kollam district panchayat.
Under the leadership of the agricultural committee, KMML has been conducting organic farming in more than 13 acres of land, producing bountiful yields. The current crops at the farm include yam, eggplant, okra, bitter gourd, string beans, green chilli, tomato, lablab beans, banana, tapioca, salad cucumber, ginger, turmeric, and purple yam. The company has also set up a vermicompost unit in connection with the project. The farm is being supervised by a team headed by Panmana Agriculture Officer and recently the tapioca planted near the office canteen was harvested.
While aquaculture is also part of the project, the company had recently started farming in areas near plants that had been lying fallow. At present, organic farming is going on in the areas that have been mined and refilled for mineral separation. KMML had started organic farming during the pandemic as part of the Subhiksha Keralam scheme implemented by the State government. After a bumper harvest in 2019, rice under the brand Thalir was launched and the produce is usually distributed among the underprivileged families in the area.
