Beyond paddy: How this Thrissur farm reimagines summer cultivation

Kaipamangalam: The Edathiruthy Paddy Seed Production Centre has emerged as a model for summer crop cultivation, transforming its fields into a hub of diverse produce.

Spread across 25 acres, the centre that functions under the Agriculture Department and the District Panchayat has developed model farms with diverse crops following the paddy cultivation season. A wide range of vegetables, including okra, pumpkin, ash gourd, yellow cucumber, salad cucumber, melon, beans, various leafy greens, snap melon, watermelon and muskmelon are being cultivated here.

 The farm has also taken up the cultivation of millets suited to water-scarce conditions. Crops such as ragi, foxtail millet, little millet, sorghum, and pearl millet are grown alongside sesame. In addition, a variety of pulses, including horse gram, black gram, green gram, cowpea, and pigeon pea, are also cultivated. The experimental farming initiative was launched under the leadership of S Mini, a former agricultural officer of the seed farm.

The centre also provides facilities for farmers and the public to directly purchase farm produce. Seeds of the Jyothi variety of paddy, along with millets, pulses, vegetables and snap melon, etc., are available here at government-fixed prices.