The Hindu Business Line : Bid to grow paddy on Kerala's fallow land

THE State Agriculture Department is working on a project to commence paddy cultivation on fallow land. Besides giving a boost to Kerala's agricultural sector, the initiative is expected to create more employment opportunities.

The scheme's emphasis is on generating employment options for the State's youth and also for women, said a Government official involved in the design of the programme.

The Department will provide infrastructure support and also procurement support to those who join this scheme, the official added. Besides, it will give production-based incentives to those who start paddy cultivation as part of this scheme. The idea is to eventually extend this initiative to other crops, he said.

The Department is also designing a scheme to `certify' private nurseries. This initiative is intended to help overcome the shortage of good quality seedlings, particularly for crops such as coconut and pepper.

"Though the certification will initially be only for coconut and pepper seedlings, it will eventually be extended to other crops, especially spices," the official said.

Also on the cards are several other projects to improve the efficiency of the agricultural sector. The Department is in the process of implementing a project to modernise four of its laboratories.

Similarly, in an effort to improve the productivity of the `State farms', the Department is examining the option of handing over the management of some of these farms to the farm employees.

Meanwhile, the `Kisan Grameena Karshika Information Kiosk' project, recently launched as a pilot initiative in Thiruvananthapuram district, is working well, said the official.

Though begun as information dissemination centres, the idea is to turn these kiosks into marketing centres and trading hubs for agricultural produce, the official said.