Kerala: Anganwadi children in Kottuvally grama panchayat will be introduced to the world of agriculture as part of an initiative by the grama panchayat agriculture office as part of its attempts to convert idle land into vegetable production.
The agricultural office has also recruited staff from several organizations, including the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB), to help boost farming activities in the panchayat.
The National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme will be used to augment labor resources for farming activities. According to department sources, KSEB employees working under the Mannam Parappuram 110 kV station in North Paravur started growing vegetables as part of a wider effort to cultivate land held by government institutions, public sector corporations, and other institutions that had been left fallow.
Anganwadi children will be given vegetable seeds and encouraged to grow them. The agriculture office is pushing more young people to take up farming, thus children from the third ward of the Kottuvally grama panchayat have already begun vegetable production. According to department source information, the vegetables being grown included amaranth, cucumber, tomato, and okra.
The Kottuvally panchayat is part of the Paravur block panchayat, which has inaugurated a year-long 'Prakriti School' or Nature School in all 52 educational institutions in its jurisdiction, including government, aided, and private schools. The Nature School program is being done with support and technical guidance from the Agriculture Department and the Kottuvally grama panchayat Krishi Bhavan.
The carbon-neutral program will teach children the fundamentals of environmental protection while also cultivating an interest in farming, tree planting, and mangrove forest conservation.