When organic vegetable farming gained momentum in Kerala after people started realising the harmful effects of pesticides and chemicals, a 67-year-old farmer in Kerala saw a big opportunity and started a small nursery at his home in Idukki to produce organic saplings of different vegetables.
While starting the small nursery, M K Purushothaman of Rajakumari in Idukki never thought that his small venture would grow into a big enterprise, earning him a turnover of Rs 1.5 crore per year within ten years of operation.
Purushothaman decided to start this organic nursery after he found that saplings of vegetables available in the market were grown in nurseries where they heavily used chemical fertilizers and pesticides for the seeds to sprout and saplings to stay strong to withstand attacks from pests.
“What’s the point in cultivating vegetables from saplings which are bred and sprouted using chemical fertilizers? So, I decided to start a nursery to grow saplings of different vegetables strictly using organic materials,” Purushothaman said, adding that he got big support from the local Krishi office to start the nursery.
Purushothaman started with a 400 sq ft greenhouse shed for the nursery in 2012, and now the nursery produces saplings of over 40 different vegetables that include bitter gourd, green chilies, and brinjal. “There is a growing demand for organic saplings. I get buyers from across the state. I also sell the saplings through agricultural offices in the state,” he told “Open Digest“.
Purushothaman, a farmer by profession since his young age, only uses cow dung powder, neem cakes, and organic pesticides made using garlic, bird’s eye chili, and tobacco for breeding the saplings. “Saplings bred through organic procedures have more resistance to pest attacks,” he said, adding that he plans to spread the message of organic farming to more people in due course of time.
