Kottayam: Agriculture minister V.S. Sunil Kumar kicked off harvesting paddy in Methran Kayal, Kumarakom, on Saturday, promising good service entry to officials who made it possible within 120 days in 320 of 404 acres lying idle. “The successful organic farming is a reply to the campaign that farming is not possible here and mysterious motive to promote a tourism project," he claimed. “The officials who made it possible are an asset for the government. Farming will continue in the coming years. If the firm that owns the land is not doing it, we will leave it to the farmers."
Finance minister T.M. Thomas Isaac inaugurated the public meeting as part of the harvest festival and actor-director Sreenivasan released the logo of the rice variety. The harvest began in the field of Kuzhiyil Karunakaran, a 90-year-old farmer, who sowed seeds on November 10 on 25 acres including that of him. The initiative was set in motion after a gap of eight years.
The previous UDF Government had come under attack for clearing a 378-acre eco-tourism project here, which they had to reverse later. Food production commissioner Raju Narayana Swamy delivered the food safety message and Kumarakom panchayat president A.P. Salimon dedicated the agriculture development project. Vaikom MLA C.K. Asha and Oil Palm India chairman Vijayan Kunissery were also present. Agriculture development and farmers welfare director Biju Prabhakaran welcomed the gathering.
