The Hindu : Kerala News : Kudumbasree to produce, supply ‘kadali’ plantain

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Wednesday, Feb 13, 2008
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Kerala

Kudumbasree to produce, supply ‘kadali’ plantain

Special Correspondent

Required for Guruvayur Sree Krishna temple

To be grown in 30 ha of land in Kodakara block
Temple’s requirement is met from Tamil Nadu

Thiruvananthapuram: The Kudumbasree, poverty eradication mission, is to produce and supply the entire quantity of ‘kadali’ plantain required at the Guruvayur Sree Krishna temple with the cooperation of the Guruvayur Devaswom, the three-tier panchayat, the Agriculture University and the Agriculture Department.

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the purpose has been signed by the coordinator of the Kudumbasree Thrissur District Mission, the secretary of the Kodakara block panchayat and the administrator of the Guruvayur Devaswom Board.

The distribution of plantains to the temple under the scheme will begin in February 2009.

The Kudumbasree is taking it up as a sub-scheme named ‘Nivedyam’ under its main scheme ‘Samagra.’ It involves an outlay of Rs.5.13 crore. Under it, the mission will grow the ‘kadali’ plantain in 30 ha of land in Kodakara block of Thrissur district to produce 600 tonnes of the fruit. Nearly 150 units of the mission will be pressed into service. The members of the units will be provided scientific training in the cultivation of the plantain.

Procurement centre

Arrangements are being made to collect the bunches of plantain, pack and store them before transporting them to the temple. A procurement centre will be set up at the Kodakara block for the purpose. It will be equipped with facilities such as box autorickshaw.

Vegetables will cultivated as inter-crop during the first three months of plantain cultivation. The materials left after harvesting will be used to make vermi-compost. There is also a proposal to set up a unit to process plantain thread at Mattathoor panchayat. Training will be given to make various products using plantain thread. A committee will be set up to monitor the progress of the project.

The Guruvayur temple requires 120 bunches of ‘kadali’ plantain per day. At present, the entire lot is brought from Tamil Nadu. The ‘kadali’ plantain, considered to have medicinal properties, used to be a popular crop in the State. It has now virtually disappeared from the scene.

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