Shree Padre, Kozhikode
Dubai’s agriculture minister recently chartered a flight to Kozhikode and, accompanied by a horticulture consultant, headed to the Agriculture Research Station (ARS) at Anakkayam nearby. There the minister, Abdulla Jassim Abdulla M Almarzooqi, placed orders for fruits, spices and ornamental plants. But on his mind was something bigger. He offered free visas and air tickets to the 100 members of the research station’s agricultural army, which rather grandly goes by the name of Hi-tech Karshika Karma Sena (HTKKS).
What is so special about the Annakayam ARS that the Dubai minister should have felt the need to fly down to it?
Since 2007, this research station has gone from being a sleepy government facility to an engine of innovative agricultural practices – some local, some with far-reaching implications. Much of the credit for this energy and vision goes to Prasanna Rajendran, 53, who heads the ARS with the designation of assistant director of research.
Rajendran’s success has been such that the ARS’s annual income is Rs 2.56 crores. For next year, it has set a target of Rs 3 crores.
Compare that to Kerala Agriculture University (KAU) which earns Rs 8 crores annually from 3,500 acres. The ARS with just 25 acres adds Rs 2.56 crores to the KAU’s kitty.
What has led to this transformation? Rajendran attributes it to “just a little common sense and team work”. He adds: “Whatever we’ve done here is possible in any other research institution.”
Started in 1963, the Anakkayam ARS was once a cashew research station with 25 acres of rain-fed dryland. Only one scientist and five labourers worked here. Every summer, drinking water had to fetched from outside. The station’s annual revenue was a paltry Rs 4.92 lakhs. It had been all but written off.
Today ARS trains youth in agriculture, works with self-help groups (SHGs) and produces a variety of fruits and vegetables, some of which are processed and sold.
The turnaround: Before Rajendran took over, the station only had some cashew trees. It had no water, no crops, no staff and not enough buildings. Rajendran quickly figured out that he needed more hands.
So, his first priority was to train a band of people. A six-month Vocational Higher Secondary (VHS) course in agriculture was launched. In an unusual move, this course was conducted only during holidays. After six months of training, a team was ready, but it had to register itself because only a registered team could be given work under government rules.
The station then entered into a profit-sharing work agreement with the team thus created. Rajendran says: “For the ‘holiday training’ we didn’t claim any remuneration despite being entitled to it. This and the profit-sharing model on which our SHGs were later offered work set the ball rolling. The result has been unbelievable.”
Malappuram district gets 2,900 mm of rainfall in a year. This adds up to 10 million litres per acre. One by one, the station built three huge bottom-lined rain ponds, each with a capacity of five million litres. Initially, they made the run-off from the sloping land fill these ponds after filtering. Now that there is enough water, the practice has been discontinued. The ponds store a minimum of 10 million litres of rainwater, enough to irrigate 25 acres. Says Rajendran: “For many short duration crops, this much irrigation is enough to double yields.”
Field management was the next priority. Weeds had grown in the whole area. The new team was pressed into service. The biomass obtained was huge. Simple vermicompost units were built. Now the station produces about 500 tonnes of vermicompost every year. This is sufficient for all the organic manure requirements of the farm. Whatever is left over – about 100 tonnes – is sold.
“With the wild weeds gone, the campus acquired a new look. Visitors started arriving. The station began to get one project after another. Funds too started pouring in,” says Rajendran.
Local farmers in the past mocked the ARS as a ‘cashew factory’. But now the ARS is back to being an agriculture research station. It has a tissue culture lab and a processing centre apart from a huge amount of vegetable seeds and planting material. Even during the non-planting season 50 farmers on an average visit the station to buy planting material or seek expert advice.
Says Rajendran, “During the rains, we now have 250 workers, including temporary labourers. But even this is not adequate because our activities are so diverse. Our total expenditure, including salaries, would be less than Rs 1 crore. So ours is the only ARS under KAU that doesn’t have financial constraints.”
What makes the achievements of this research station all the more remarkable is its sparse infrastructure. Its canteen is makeshift. The campus has no guest house. The processing lab is cramped and lacks minimum facilities. The tissue culture lab is no better. Rajendran and his team carry on regardless.
“The Anakkayam panchayat had 250 families without an income,” explains Rajendran, “We roped them in as contract labourers. These women now earn Rs 200 per day.” They have been formed into SHGs of seven to eight members each.
Plant money: Nursery plant propagation in the profit-sharing model has been extremely successful. Anakkayam station now produces plants in a two-hectare space. From fruits and ornamental plants to vegetable seedlings in nursery trays, the station produces a remarkable variety.
During the planting season, some SHGs produce up to 100,000 plants in a month. The minimum price for any plant is Rs 10. So the sale value of 100,000 plants is `10 lakhs. The SHG gets Rs 3.5 lakhs as its share. Invoicing is done in a phased manner so that these workers get good returns even during the lean season.
Local farmers are now accustomed to using vegetable seedlings grown in nursery trays. The station keeps some fast-moving seedlings like tomato, brinjal, chillies and bitter gourd ready. These are sold at Rs 2 per seedling.
The business of producing vegetable seedlings in nursery trays on specific orders is thriving. Farmers and panchayats place specific indents. There is growing demand for bhindi and cowpea seedlings too.
Says farm manager Shahida: “We produce cabbage and cauliflower seedlings too. Farmers from Gundlupete across the Karnataka border and some from distant Tamil Nadu also come here to buy these.” This ARS produces approximately 400,000 vegetable seedlings a year. “Marketing of planting material is not a problem. Actually we are meeting less than 50 per cent of the demand.”
The station has developed an orchard of 57 different jackfruit saplings for cloning. Interesting varieties among these are seedless jack, Chingam varikka and Pallipuram varikka. But this orchard is yet to be evaluated.
Pointing to a strange-looking fruit-cum-vegetable, Rajendran says: “This is horned melon (kiwano) that we got through a pilot friend some years ago. It was brought from California. Its juice is very refreshing. The oil extracted from its seeds is expensive. It grows in three months and performs well in our conditions. We’ve distributed the seeds to hundreds of farmers.”
Kokum from Konkan is also being popularised. This multipurpose, medicinal fruit plant is very rare in this part of Kerala. It is ideal for making squash, jam and wine. In the last year, the ARS has sold 1,000 grafts and earned Rs 40,000 from the one mother tree they have. “Demand for these grafts has increased 10-fold,” says a farm hand.
The ARS is now gearing up for its ninth batch of trained people. The first and second batches were fully absorbed in the ARS itself. All members of the third batch got admission in B.Sc. (Agriculture). Subsequent trainees were well placed or got a chance to study further. More and more young people are being drawn towards this six-month course.
A hi-tech army: Another scalable model the ARS has created is the training of the agricultural army. There is a message in calling it “Hi-tech”. It consists of 100 people between 25 and 40 years old. Some have only completed school. Others have college degrees. They learn about grafting and tissue culture among other things. They also develop skills with regard to precision farming, which is installation and maintenance of poly houses, green houses and rain shelters, designing and setting up terrace gardens.
They are trained in putting up protected cultivation structures, value addition of vegetables, fruits and spices through processing and the creation of rainwater harvesting structures for irrigation support and fishing.
The HTKKS is just six months old but is already making a mark. All the 100 trained members are not required in all projects. They are enlisted according to the nature of a project. HTKKS team leader Abdul Salam says: “We have completed 13 poly houses and green houses so far. Our activities have spread to neighbouring districts and beyond. Nine more projects are pending. Inquiries are pouring in. Recently we got one from Gujarat too.”
Skills & jobs: Most team members make up to Rs 20,000 per month. They have made the flooring of the training hall and the roof of the processing centre. The canteen has been constructed by them. How have they accomplished all this? “We have one or two members who know welding, masonry and other such skills. It is under their guidance that all the others worked. We are learning new skills every day,” explains Abdul Salam.
Under government rules, open tenders are required. The HTKKS bids for work and quotations are much lower. “For a 1000 square metre poly house, construction tenders of up to Rs 14 lakhs were received. HTKKS quoted `9 lakhs and bagged the contract.”
However, some trained members have left HTKKS. “A few think in terms of themselves and their work hours. They are the ones that have left,” says Salam, “but there have been only a few.”
Abdul Nissar, another team leader, says: “All other professions have gone high tech. Farming is an exception. Poly house cultivation and precision farming are really ideal to attract young people to farming.”
“Most Kerala youngsters dream of a job in the Gulf,” says Rajendran. “I worked in Saudi Arabia for many years. If we can work hard there, why not here in India? Here we can earn better and enjoy more advantages too.”
The Kerala state agriculture department is running a vegetable development scheme in the district. The total cost of raising a kitchen garden is Rs 2,000. A family has to pay Rs 500. The rest is given in material form as subsidy. Vegetable seedlings are delivered to the doorsteps of the beneficiary farmer in grow bags. The farmer has to simply irrigate, manure and take care of the plant. The target in the district is 10,000 families. But the ARS has already received more applications than that.
Fruit products: An old building has been converted into a food- processing unit. The facilities are very rudimentary. But every day a group of women here produces pickles, jams and squashes. Apart from jackfruit, many local minor fruits are used. Banana rhizome pickle is probably the most innovative product. Kerala grows Nendran banana in a big way. After harvesting, the rhizome is incorporated into the soil. Pickle from this is an instant success with customers. ARS sells it for Rs 15 per 100 gm.
Says Rajendran: “This is alkaline and good for people suffering from stomach ulcers. Of course, we source only organically grown raw material – because in Nendran cultivation a considerable amount of pesticides is used.”
Another interesting product from the Kerala perspective is green mango squash. Wild and green mangoes are usually available in the market for Rs 4 to Rs 5 a kg. Squash made from this has many takers.
Rajendran is hopeful that if someone shows farmers ways of earning more money from the banana tree, they would really do away with the pesticides. “Now they use toxic pesticides because they are anxious that a crop should be bountiful. If they are convinced that they can also earn from rhizome, they would bid goodbye to chemical cultivation. Banana byproduct utilization could come to the rescue of farmers if promoted in a proper way.”
Merchants and exporters, too, come to the station to buy food products. They have purchased value-added products worth Rs 50,000 in the last month alone. An exporter recently bought dry products (like tapioca dehydrated) worth Rs 27,000 to export it to the Middle-East.
In order to encourage women to utilise local fruits for income generation, the station offers free training. Training has already been imparted in making products from fruits like gooseberry, carambola, bilimbi and wild mango. However success has been slow. “Rigid registration and licensing rules prevent setting up of production units”, says Rajendran, “But now, there is hope. FPO Licensing has been recently decentralised to panchayat level.”
The processing facility of the station is just one year old. The time does not seem ripe for the women to switch over to the profit-sharing model. Until their production reaches a level, these women will be paid daily wages.
Homely vegetables: For the last three years, the ARS is in the forefront of poly house vegetable cultivation. “In a poly house vegetable production can be enhanced five to 10 times,” says Rajendran.
He lists the benefits of poly houses. “The vegetables are of much better quality with less or no pesticide load. There is very little labour required and less water is needed. Production is year round.”
At present, this ARS has 5,000 square metres of poly houses. It catches rain from half of the roof area of its poly houses. In Malappuram, there are three state-level award-winning farmers carrying out farming in poly houses. Cost is a deterrent in poly house farming. It works out to Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,200 per square metre, including cost of cultivation. Yet, ARS has already influenced a few dozen farmers to take up poly house vegetable cultivation.
The Kerala government has introduced a scheme to provide poly houses of 400 square metres. “This is not sufficient,” says Rajendran. A farmer should have a minimum of 1,000 square metres to be commercially viable.” The Kerala government plans to give 75 per cent subsidy to three farmers in each panchayat to build poly houses. Approximately four years would be required for breaking even.
Food for landless: The ARS has designed an easy and innovative way for the landless poor to cultivate vegetables. This is called the Semi Permanent Tower (SPT) for vegetable cultivation. This method enables people to grow vegetables inside or near the kitchen or on a flat roof terrace throughout the year. “In a single bag we can accommodate 30 to 32 vegetable plants by growing upwards,” Rajendran explains. “This method is ideal for growing leafy vegetables and greens, including curry leaf, without applying any pesticide”.
The structure looks like a barrel. A pipe is introduced vertically at the centre. The growing medium is filled inside. Nutrients can be supplemented as foliar sprays. It is enough if the tower is watered once in 15 days.
At present the station has three models for this method. An SPT made of gunny-bag costs Rs 200. If made from fibre, it costs Rs 800. A permanent plant costs Rs 2,000. “Design and material can be changed or fine-tuned. But this model is many times better than grow bags,” says Rajendran.
Outsourcing of vegetable seed production through SHGs started here four years ago. In the first year, there were 22 participating farmers. Now the number has gone up to 89 and spread to neighbouring districts like Kozhikode, Palakkad and Wayanad. In all 3.5 tonnes of seeds worth Rs 40 lakhs were produced last year. The ARS buys vegetables and not seeds from these farmers. “This is to prevent any chances of mixing up the seeds.”
A very successful case is that of Moideen, a farmer from Kozhikode district. On three acres of a new rubber plantation he planted banana and pumpkin. He has sold his entire crop and improved his annual income.
Citing examples like this one, Rajendran says, “With proper planning, poverty can be eradicated in farming.”
What others say: “Dr Rajendran has vision,” says Kerala agriculture minister K.P. Mohanan. It is not easy to instill the institutional spirit in casual workers, that too in Kerala. What is the secret of this scientist’s success? “Man is a social animal. We have to take care of the people who work with us,” he replies.
One such move started four years ago. Every year the entire staff is taken on a one-day tour. Places visited so far are Ooty, Munnar, Ambalavayal Farm, Nelliambudi and Coorg. Says Rajendran: “We travel a lot. It offers a break from routine.”
Five hearing impaired people work here. They earn `6,000 per month. Three of them are from afar and stay in rented rooms. “We have to get more and more challenged people into the mainstream. They are very creative. This work helps them grow as individuals. We call this process horti-therapy.”
Rajendran is a workaholic. Though a government officer, he isn’t a 10 am to 5 pm guy. He is often in the office on Sundays too. “My teammates are also like that. Nobody complains about a few extra hours. If there is urgency, they are ready to work on holidays,” he reveals.
When Rajendran first arrived here, the pathetic state of the station drove him to despair. “In the early days I even thought of taking voluntary retirement,” he says. But he has kept all negativity at bay ever since.
For several years this ARS had only one scientist. Six months ago, Dr Mustafa Kunnathady, an agronomist, joined the staff. “Other KAU institutes have more space and machinery. But whatever we have is put to very good use. Yes, the shortage of scientists does affect research work,” says Rajendran.
Dr P. Rajendran, KAU vice-chancellor, says: “Anakkayam ARS can be confidently presented as a model institution. The way in which it utilises organic waste is outstanding. KAU has 26 research stations. We will incorporate the Anakkayam lessons in all these stations.”
A bigger experiment: When we visited the ARS, it was celebrating its 50th year. Two ambitious projects are on. An agro-tourism centre costing Rs 7.3 crores has been sanctioned on its premises. Apart from adding a guest house and an international hostel, the station would expose visitors to local farming systems. The process to adopt Thuvvur in Eranad taluk to make it a ‘model agricultural village of Kerala” is also on.
A month ago, Rajendran was given additional charge of the Regional Agriculture Research Station of Ambalavayal in the backward district of Wayanad. Both Anakkayam and Ambalavayal are in remote areas and are understaffed. In Ambalavayal, for the existing 15 posts present, there are only two scientists. Anakkayam, which is supposed to have five scientists, has only one scientist apart from Rajendran.
Despite the ARS’s impressive revenue generation, Rajendran is not satisfied. He says: “At Anakkayam, with all these development measures and diversified activities, we are still utilising only 25 per cent of resources. There are many limitations. But I am confident that we can generate Rs 10 crores here annually. In the case of Ambalavayal, where I took charge 15 days ago, only 5 per cent of resources are being utilised.”
For instance, Ambalavayal ARS has more than 10,000 jackfruit trees. Though they are pruned, their yield is medium. At present, the fruits are auctioned for a pittance of Rs 20,000 to Rs 5,000 “No more auctioning of jackfruit,” Rajendran says. He has decided to upgrade its jackfruit pulping capacity. As a first move the processing unit staff would be sent to Kudal in Maharashtra, for training in jackfruit pulping.
After he took charge at Ambalavayal, Rajendran convened a meeting of the panchayat president and representatives of all SHGs. In all 390 SHG members attended. “Those of you who register their names in a week will get employment opportunities that will fetch you a decent income,” the SHGs were told. Without delay, 390 SHGs registered. “Each SHG has about 10 members. We will now have 3,900 pairs of hands that are prepared to work with us,” says Rajendran.
He adds: “At the Anakkayam ARS, on 25 acres 250 people are given direct employment. If the same systems are adopted in Wayanad, employment can be given to 2,000 to 3,000 people. A 10-fold development is possible there. If God permits, we will do better in Wayanad.”
Contact Dr Rajendran at: arsanakkayam@kau.in, + 91 94471 86158
