The Hindu : Kerala / Thiruvananthapuram News : Karipra initiative to egg on resurgence of paddy

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Tuesday, Sep 23, 2008
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Kerala

Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

Karipra initiative to egg on resurgence of paddy

Special Correspondent

Back to the fields: Agriculture Minister Mullakkara Ratnakaran taking part in the paddy planting programme at Karipra grama panchayat in Kollam.

Thiruvananthapuram: The paddy sector has started perking up. Reports of paddy cultivation being extended to more places have started trickling in at a time when conversion of paddy fields has become a bane.

The latest development to light up the faces of those longing to see Kerala going back to growing paddy in a big way is the cultivation of a 35-hectare field in the Karipra gram panchayat limits in Kollam district. The field has been lying uncultivated for the past several years.

Shortage of workers, their high wages, the high cost of inputs and problems connected with marketing had led to the discontinuation of paddy cultivation on this field.

The urgency behind the campaign for achieving food security, which led to the extension of paddy cultivation to many fields remaining uncultivated for years, had its ripples in Karipra.

A scheme was drawn up by the Agriculture Department, the Kerala Agricultural University and the Karipra panchayat to cultivate the field.

As a recognition of the initiative, Agriculture Minister Mullakkara Ratnakaran put off his official engagements to inaugurate the planting function.

A sum of Rs. 7.12 lakh has been set apart for the cultivation, which is being implemented as an employment guarantee scheme. The benefit of crop insurance has been extended. The seeds planted belong to the high-yielding Uma variety obtained from the Seeds Authority. These as well as fertilizers have been provided free of cost. With the cultivation of this field, paddy cultivation has been extended to 122 hectares in that area.

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