Cultivation of safe-to-eat vegetables in large tracts of land in the State to ensure the availability of home-grown veggies for Onam has begun under the aegis of the Communist Party of India (Marxist).
The State-level inauguration of the farming initiative under the aegis of the Samyojitha Krishi Campaign Committee was held at Kanjikuzhy in Alappuzha on Thursday. CPI(M) leader M. Swaraj, party Alappuzha district secretary R. Nazar, P.P. Chitharanjan, MLA, and others planted vegetable seedlings on a land close to the Steel Industrials Kerala Limited.
In a statement issued here, the CPI(M) district committee said the initiative would help produce almost all types of veggies free of chemical pesticides for Onam. Party units from the top to the local level would become part of the vegetable farming campaign.
Youths to join
“CPI(M)-controlled cooperative institutions and local self-government institutions have already prepared projects for carrying out Onam-specific vegetable cultivation. Apart from traditional farmers, a large number of youngsters will join the campaign. Farmer groups will be formed to avail themselves of loans and cultivate a wide variety of vegetables on a large scale. Barren lands in the State will be identified and converted into agriculture fields under the aegis of the Samyojitha Krishi Campaign Committee,” the statement reads.
CPI(M) leaders said that organising committees would be constituted at area/local levels and planting festivals would be conducted in the coming days. The CPI(M) and party-controlled cooperatives will set up temporary vegetable stalls from August 25 to 28.
