Agriculture Officer Encourages Colleagues to Start Collective Farming

Kothamangalam Agriculture Department Assistant V P Sindhu comes from a farming background and knows farmers' concerns. During difficult times, she has proven to be a source of comfort for farmers. 

Agricultural department Kothamangalam deputy Assistant VP Sindhu is currently on a mission to get farmers to start growing vegetables by providing a good example.

The whole personnel of the Kothamangalam agricultural assistant director office, comprising 11 Krishi Bhavans, has joined forces to plant vegetables in order to educate farmers about the benefits of organic farming. 

Brinjal, tomato, lady finger, spinach, bitter gourd, ash gourd, snake gourd, beans, pumpkin, cucumber, and green chilly are all grown by the personnel of the assistant director on a farm near their office.

 The farm is around five kilometers from the office in Chelad. The staff has been divided into five groups, and each group will visit the farm once a week after office hours. The entire workforce gathers at the farm on Saturdays and other holidays to clear weeds, apply organic fertilizers, and water the plants.

"We began farming veggies as a small experiment to get closer to farmers and understand their concerns."

On April 16, the farming activities began with tilling the ground. We began farming on a 50-cent patch that had been fallow for several years. Initially, we hoped to set an example and motivate others to grow veggies. But as time went on, it changed our lives. We began to be concerned about heavy rain and dry weather.

"I have directed that no one leave the workplace early to care for the crops." "No farmer should complain about workers not being available during office hours," Sindhu remarked. Sindhu's team created a campaign to encourage vegetable gardening in 2020, which received positive feedback.