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Minister’s call to promote farming

Special Correspondent

Vegetable cultivation on school premises inaugurated

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Agriculture Minister Mullakkara Ratnakaran on Friday called upon Keralites to return to farming.

Inaugurating a project taken up by the City Corporation to promote vegetable cultivation on school premises, he said the public were reluctant to take up farming despite the best efforts of local self-government institutions.

The Minister urged parents to take the initiative to promote a love for farming in their children. He also proposed the inclusion of agriculture in the school curriculum.

Mr. Ratnakaran said the project would help to inculcate the virtue of self-reliance in the younger generation.

Mayor C. Jayan Babu presided over the inaugural function held at Girls Higher Secondary School, Pattom. Deputy Mayor V. Jayaprakash, chairmen of standing committees, Corporation secretary Johnson K. George, school Principal K.L. Saraswathy Amma, Headmistress Kochuthresiamma, PTA president S. Sisupalan and Agriculture Deputy Director Parvathy Bai also addressed the gathering.

Funded by the State Bank of India, the pilot project is being implemented in 10 city schools with the technical assistance of the Krishi Bhavans under the Agriculture Department.

The seeds are being supplied by the Kerala Horticulture Mission.

The vegetable garden at the Pattom school has been prepared on the terrace of a block. The seeds are planted in 500 sacks filled with soil. The sacks were collected by the students from various households.

The harvested produce would be used for the noon meal scheme in schools. The project also aims at promoting the concept of organic farming to replace chemical fertilizers and pesticides which pollute the environment.

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