For the last two decades, over 20 acres of land at Thirumaradi grama panchayat in Ernakulam has been lying barren and totally unusable. But now, a collective effort of farmers and local residents have turned the land into a paddy field where they have started farming again.
Though the land belonged to a group of farmers, they couldn’t do any farming for all these years because water from Muvattupuzha Valley irrigation canal continuously clogged the land. Even repeated attempts by respective grama panchayats to reclaim the land didn’t yield any results for all these years.
Finally, the present grama panchayat decided to approach Kerala Land Development Corporation (KLDC) seeking its support to make the land usable for paddy cultivation. “The KLDC came out with a solution to end the water logging problem. They constructed another channel to take out the water from the land. The project was completed very fast and the land became ready for use again. We are thankful to KLDC for supporting our initiative,” said ward member C V Joy, who has been in the lead to reclaim the land for paddy cultivation.
“The local residents have come forward to do the farming works. Currently, eight people are involved in the work. Thirumaradi Krishi Bhavan is extending all the support,” he said. The farming was officially inaugurated by KLDC Chairman P V Sathyanesan.
“We have identified a few more farm lands which have been lying unusable for the last several years. A special project is being devised with the support of KLDC and Krishi Bhavan to reclaim such lands. We hope to revive paddy cultivation in a big way in Thirumaradi grama panchayat,” Joy told “Open Digest”.
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