Angawadi children in Kottuvally grama panchayat will be initiated into the world of agriculture under an initiative by the grama panchayat agriculture office as part of its efforts to bring land lying idle under vegetable cultivation. The agriculture office has also roped in employees from various institutions, including the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB), to expand farming activities in the panchayat.
The farming activities will also use the labour resources available through the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. Department sources said KSEB employees under the aegis of the Mannam Parappuram 110 kV station in North Paravur had launched cultivation of vegetables as part of an overall effort to bring land owned by government institutions, public sector undertakings and other institutions, that has been lying fallow, under cultivation.
Children in the anganwadis will be given vegetable seeds and encouraged to cultivate them. Children from the third ward of the Kottuvally grama panchayat have already undertaken vegetable cultivation as the agriculture office is in the process of encouraging more young people to take up farming. The vegetables being cultivated included amaranth, cucumber, tomato and okra, department sources said.
The Paravur block panchayat, under which the Kottuvally panchayat falls, has launched a year-long ‘Prakriti School’ or Nature School in all 52 educational institutions in its area that include government, aided and private schools. The Nature School programme is being undertaken with support and technical advice from the Department of Agriculture and the Kottuvally grama panchayat Krishi Bhavan.
The carbon neutral programme will help children understand the basics of care for nature as well as cultivate an interest in farming, planting of trees, and mangrove forests.