Neendakara: The Neendakara harbour engineering office has won the State-level agriculture award for public sector enterprises, instituted by the Agriculture Department, securing the second prize.

Officers and harbour workers under the office transformed five acres of land, once overrun with wild growth, into fertile farmland. What began as an idea during a clean-up drive three years ago has now evolved into six model farms. The vegetable plots cultivate peas, brinjal, chillies, ginger, tamarind, yam, ivy gourd, intercrop vegetables, passion fruit, and plantain. The farm also engages in cultivation of fish varieties.

Weed control measures and modern scientific farming techniques have been adopted to ensure productivity. The Neendakara harbour area, with its low biomass, high salinity, and elemental decay caused by black sand mining, posed significant challenges . The team, however, has overcome all these challenges and scripted a success story. Just days ago, around 75 kg of peas were harvested. The vegetables are sold alongside fish at the harbour.

As part of the Agriculture Department’s comprehensive vegetable farming mission, a model nutritional garden has also been developed on 50 cents of land. Saplings for the farm are produced locally. The initiative has sent a strong message that farming is possible even in regions traditionally associated with fishing. Inspired by this, similar farming projects under the name Harbour Model Farming have been launched in various parts of the panchayat.

Fifteen workers and four officers, under the supervision of the harbour engineer, lead the farming efforts, with full support from the Neendakara Agricultural office.