The Hindu (Thiruvananthapuram)
Coastal greening programme in State soon
A programme to strengthen green cover along the coast by planting mangroves under an initiative of Haritha Kerala Mission is set to take o£ soon.
The greening programme will be taken up in 33 panchayats along the coast between Ernakulam and Thiruvananthapuram districts, including Alappuzha and Kollam, and will cover a distance of 59 km along the coast, Haritha Kerala Mission sources said.
They said that about 14 acres would come under the greening programme. While Haritha Keralam Mission, with the support of Indian Railways, will oversee the programme, the Rural Employment
Guarantee Scheme will be utilised to maintain the mangrove saplings for three years.
Sources also said that proposals from various panchayats interested in joining the programme had been submitted to the State government. Each panchayat would decide on the saplings to be planted — whether mangroves or similar plants.
The Social Forestry division of the Forest department will supply the saplings for the programme, sources added.
They said that 17 panchayats in Alappuzha district had come forward to join the programme while Chittattukara in Ernakulam district would plant mangrove saplings on a 1km stretch along the Cherai area.
The Forest department has launched a project to restore the traditional tuber crop farming practices among tribal communities in the Marayur Sandalwood Division in Idukki.
Narum Nooru is a project aimed to revive the cultivation of purple yam (kachil), colocasia, elephant foot yam, nooron kizhangu, and other tuber crops. Ocials say the project will also provide additional income to tribal farmers.
Marayur Divisional Forest Ocer M.G. Vinod Kumar says tuber crops such as nooron kizhangu and purple yam were once staples in the diet of tribal communities but have gradually disappeared over time, with many of the seeds lost.
“Our aim is to revive the cultivation of these traditional tuber crops among the tribal community,” he says.
Besides, the produce can be sold by farmers through Chilla, the department’s exclusive tribal market, which operates in Marayur on Thursdays. “In the past ve years, koorka (Chinese potato), a popular item in the tribal market, has been sold through the tribal market fetching about ₹3.5 crore.”
Better income
Ocials say if the tuber crop farming succeeds, it will provide better income to tribal communities while also ensuring access to organic traditional foods.
Initially, tuber crop cultivation will be piloted at the Kammalamkudy and Oonjapara tribal settlements, with plans to expand it to all 24 settlements under the forest division the following year. Ocials plan to revive over 40 varieties of kachil within a year as part of the project.
Harichandran Kani, head of Kammalamkudy tribal settlement, says tuber crop farming is planned in a large area for the coming year, with funds to be sourced through the Vana Samrakshana Samiti (VSS).
Lakshmi, a 78-year-old farmer from Oonjamparakudy, says nooron kizhangu, vettilavelli kizhangu, kattu kizhangu, and violet kizhangu were once staple food in the tribal community. She expressed hope that the project will help revive the food habits.
In 2017, the department under the guidance of former Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary (CWS) assistant wildlife warden P.M. Prabhu had launched Punarjeevanam, a project aimed at revitalising traditional millet farming in the tribal settlements in Chinnar, with great success. The project was ocially inaugurated at Marayur on Saturday.