Thrippunithura: Mild winters are best suited for growing grapevine. But bunches of fresh green grapes would greet you if you were to enter the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) office at Thrippunithura in Kerala's Ernakulam district. The KSEB staff have proved that grapevine can be grown in our humid backyards too and not just in cold climatic conditions. The grapevines have been growing here since 2014.
Some people had questioned whether the grapevine would grow in the hot, humid conditions of our land. But grapevine not only grew but bore fruit as well. Though the vines shed some leaves during the monsoon, it continued to flourish. Other KSEB officials have also fully backed the raise lines cultivation.
Lineman Murali Velayudhan is tending the vines.
The KSEB office is situated close to the famed Sree Poornathrayeesa Temple in Thrippunithura and the devotees visiting the temple also check out the grapes. Those who turn up to pay the electricity bills are also amused by the grapes, the KSEB staff said.
Worn out service wires were used to make the trellis on which the grapevine grew.