Agri-Tourism: Idukki Farmers to Provide Tourists with a 'Fresh from Farm' Experience

Despite the fact that Marayur and Kanthalloor villages are only a short drive from Munnar's booming tourism attraction, they are significantly less well-known. Farmers in the area hope to alter this by promoting the area as an agritourism destination.

Kanthalloor and Marayur farmers are famed for their enormous sugarcane, fruit, and vegetable fields, as well as the traditional delicacy Marayoor jaggery. Visitors may now enjoy a 'Fresh from the Farm' experience. 

The Marayoor and Kanthalloor regions of Kerala's Idukki district are set to emerge as important agritourism destinations. 

"We don't have dams or tea plantations,". One of the region's major assets is the variety of crops grown organically by farmers, according to Suchithra, a Kanthalloor woman farmer.  

A number of agri-tourism activities near Kanthalloor began last year, including trips to farms that are not generally available to the public to observe what they produce. Tourists may either consume or buy agricultural food straight from the farmers. 

In addition to visitors and tourists arriving in their own vehicles with their families and relatives, tour companies and operators provide agricultural tours to visitors in the village. "The more we show people how Marayur jaggery is prepared without preservatives or how vegetables are grown organically in the village, the more popular the food becomes," said Sivakumar, a farmer. 

"Tourists who visit farms are given the ability to taste strawberries fresh from the plant," Palaniyammal, who manages a strawberry farm close to her jaggery production unit in Missionvayal, said. "They buy in quantity because they gain firsthand knowledge with the quality of the fruit," she explained.  

Strawberry growers like her, who used to sell the fruits at cheap rates in local markets, are now earning significant profits as a result of the farmers' new agro-tourism initiative.