Tamil Nadu - Nagercoil   

“Kanyakumari can serve as an ideal home for nursery”

Nagercoil: Nursery trade is one of the thriving businesses in the district following the non-availability of farm labours to raise and look after labour-intensive crops like paddy and other varieties.

According to sources, traditionally, it was customary to maintain permanent labourers by farmers. But this practice came to an end at the beginning of the 19th century due to the increasing cost of maintaining them. After this the practice of employing casual labour came into existence.

Hence instead of raising paddy and other crops, farmers have started to raise trees like coconut, rubber, mango, medicinal and other horticultural crops, which were less cultivation-intensive and required less daily care and attention. Even though the land owners (farmers) were educated and ready to accept advanced cultivation practices, field level adoption was very less due to their limited involvement in practical agriculture, said the president of Pazhayar Protection Movement, Tho.Nainar.

There are few main nurseries of plants in the district. Most of the main plant nurseries are situated in and around Kuzuthurai and Cheruvarakonam on Kerala-Tamil Nadu border. The Atmanilayam nursery at Cheruvarkonam is one of the biggest nurseries in South India, which supplies plant material to the whole lot of nurseries in the south. A medium size nursery is at Nagercoil and a few others are situated in Kuzuthurai. Moreover a State Horticulture Farm also functoins at Pazathottam near Kanyakumari. Unfortunately owing to the lack of proper encouragement from the Government none of them exports plants to other countries. Due to the high humidity prevalent in this district, it is claimed that cuttings take root faster than other horticulture centres like Hosur and Bangalore.

Kanyakumari district can serve as an ideal ‘home for nursery’ for the whole of Kerala and Tamil Nadu, thanks to the natural advantages enjoyed by the district. Since the climate and the soil conditions are ideal, time for the establishment of grafts is considerably reduced and the germination percentage is very high. The existing nurseries in different parts of the district should be made in to an organized sector. The officials of agriculture and horticultural departments should monitor and certify the plant varieties so as to improve the germplasm quality in the nurseries.

Many unorganised private sector units have developed coconut nurseries at Ethamozhy near Nagercoil. This particular area has a peculiar sandy alluvial soil, naturally fertile or rich in minerals.

With the scientific identification of mother plant and the selection process of these geno-types by simultaneous preservation farmers in this district can supply the seedlings through out the State and thus make the nurseries flourishing in future.

The prospects of export marketing (of horticultural, marine and plantation produce) utilising the proximity of Thiruvananthapuram airport, through a system of contract farming, merits the attention of the agri-business, opined a cross section of farmers who have raised nurseries.

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