Kerala CM launches ‘Jaivam 2017’ an organic farm initiative

Jaivam 2017, a campaign for organic farming taken up by Mahatma Gandhi University, was formally inaugurated by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan at MG University campus, Kottayam, Kerala.

Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister said his government would strive to make the State a hundred per cent organic State. Projects such as ‘Haritha Keralam’ initiated by the government and Jaivam launched by the university would become meaningful only when the youth took such programmes forward, he said.

Organic farming is the only way to challenge the issues prevailing in the agriculture sector. Major challenges could be taken up only if individuals, organisations and movements join hands and work together to achieve the goal, he added.

Jaivam, MGU’s organic farm drive, is for transforming Kottayam district of Kerala into a 100 percent literate district in organic farming in cooperation with National Service Scheme, Kerala Jaiva Karshaka Samiti, academic departments of the university and kudumbashree units.

The main aim of the project is to make each family member of the district literate about organic farming. As part of this, the trained volunteers would visit 4, 87,296 households in 71 panchayats and six municipalities in the district.

The volunteers would interact with the 19, 74,000 people in the district to adopt ethical organic practices to enrich the soil and preserve the environment for a healthy generation.  

Minister for Education, Prof. C. Raveendranath presided over the function. Dr Babu Sebastian, Vice Chancellor, MG University welcomed. Jose K. Mani, MP, K. Suresh Kurup, Raju Abraham, (both MLAs), and P.K. Harikumar, chairman, Jaivam 2017, spoke.