Planted seed in the backyard 20 years ago, retired Kottayam teacher harvests 1,000 oranges
George Joseph's Kottayam backyard boasts an extraordinary orange tree, yielding nearly a thousand fruits. This integrated farm also includes livestock and aquaculture, ensuring self-sufficiency.
George Joseph's Kottayam backyard boasts an extraordinary orange tree, yielding nearly a thousand fruits. This integrated farm also includes livestock and aquaculture, ensuring self-sufficiency.
George Joseph's Kottayam backyard boasts an extraordinary orange tree, yielding nearly a thousand fruits. This integrated farm also includes livestock and aquaculture, ensuring self-sufficiency.
Plucking fresh oranges in your backyard as casually as you would pluck mangoes is now a reality in Kottayam. The home of George Joseph, located at Kurkamattom in Paduva under the Akalakunnam panchayat, has become a focal point of local curiosity, thanks to a single orange tree loaded with nearly a thousand ripe, golden fruits.
Twenty years ago, George, a retired English teacher, planted an orange seed in his front yard. Over the two decades, it matured into a robust, leafy tree. While it has consistently borne fruit every season, this is the first time the tree has yielded such an extraordinary, heavy harvest. The oranges match commercially sold varieties in size, possess a delightful fragrance, and boast an exceptional taste.
Despite the massive yields, George has no plans to sell his produce in the market. Instead, he follows a generous tradition of sharing his seasonal bounty with relatives, friends, and neighbours. Throughout the harvest season, his household enjoys a bountiful supply of fresh, organic orange juice. George credits his success to his extensive knowledge of agricultural practices and the daily care he provides to his plants.
The bumper orange harvest is just one facet of George's extensive and thriving farm. His homestead is a prime model of integrated mixed farming in Kerala. Alongside plantation crops such as nutmeg, cocoa, areca nut, rubber, and black pepper, he grows a diverse range of vegetables, multiple varieties of plantains, coffee, tea, jackfruit, and limes. Reflecting on his past harvests, George recalls once selling up to 100 kg of limes from just a single lime tree on his property.
In addition to horticulture, George has integrated livestock and aquaculture into his homestead. His farm features a fish pond alongside turkeys, ducks, chickens, goats, and cows. This comprehensive farming ecosystem ensures that the household remains largely self-sufficient, sourcing a major portion of their daily dietary needs directly from their backyard.