Close to the Vembanad lake, in the backdrop of an old church at Kaippuzha, a group of youngsters in their school uniform have descended on a vast carpet of French marigold early in the morning.
A few of them are busy picking and packing a bench of flowers while the rest have their fingers in the dirt, tending to the plants.
Everyday since August 4, these young farmers have sold close to 300 kilograms of the flower to a vendor in Ettumanur, fetching over ₹30,000. By the time this Onam season draws to a close, they will be selling over 1,000 kilograms of flowers in the open market.
The flower farm, spread over five acres, serves a hands-on learning centre for a group of 61 higher secondary (vocational) students of floriculture at the St. George School to study functional skills, employability and personality development. This is for the second straight year that this educational institution from rural Kottayam has entered the Onam market as a major supplier of flowers.
“As soon as the festival season is over, these marigold plants will be replaced by a batch of 25,000 ornamental plants such as Song of India and Song of Jamaica etc., which will be ready for sale by December. The 1,200 massangeana plants that border the farm too will mature by that time,” said Thomas Mathew, the school Principal.
Besides the ornamental outdoor plants, the institution boasts a huge collection of indoor plants as well. Having taken to commercial flower cultivation just the last year with the opening of a floriculture programme in the school, it has done everything from funding to giving attention to encourage students’ interest in floriculture early in life.
Inspired by its success, individuals and establishments have begun visiting the flower farm here and taking advice from the school to launch flower cultivation on their own.
The first season of growing marigold fetched the school around one lakh rupees and using the fund, the school management St. George Church, Kaipuzha, constructed a well for the flower field. Buoyed by the move, the youngsters responded by expanding the area under the plough to three more acres and by diversifying to a variety of crops including vegetables.
“In an area where agriculture runs deep, both economically and culturally, this farm also offers students the opportunity to develop a deeper understanding of the local community as well,’’ added Mr. Mathew.
