A sunflower field in Thiruvananthapuram is grabbing eyeballs

Want to walk through a sunflower field and click selfies? Head to St Xavier’s College, Thumba, in Thiruvananthapuram where the plants are in full bloom on six acres inside the campus.

This is an initiative of agripreneur SV Sujith, who operates the agri startup, Naaden, on a 22-acre leased plot inside the college. The flowers are on display as part of Aaravam 2025, an agri-flower show organised by Naaden.

“I had planted sunflower successfully here earlier as well but that was only out of personal interest. This is the first time I have done it on a commercial basis,” says Sujith, the recipient of Kerala State Farm Awards 2022 for the best vegetable farm.

Like all the crops on the farm, Sujith has grown the flowers also on sandy soil through open-precision farming. “There are 72 beds here, each with 266 plants. In precision farming you have to know the exact number of crops,” he says.

Sujith adds that the plants flowered earlier than he expected. “Due to climatic changes they bloomed early and so we didn’t get enough time to make preparation to open it for the public. However, things are on track now,” he adds.

Also on show are marigold varieties in yellow and orange, cock’s comb (kozhipoo) and Bachelors’ button (vadamalli). “We used to grow marigolds as barrier crops to prevent attack of pests. Once I realised its commercial value we started cultivating it,” he says.

Sujith stresses that the festival is an attempt to introduce his farm and its activities to the people. “We want people to understand what we do and why we do it. Naaden is in its fourth year now and my intension is to spread one message – know your food,” he says.

Public can also see a paddy field, water wheel, different farming equipment, tools, demonstration on irrigating the crops, cultivation of various vegetables etc. As per an MoU he signed with St Xavier’s College, students of the college have been doing paid internship on the farm. “Over 25 students have worked here in four batches since we launched it,” he says.

The festival is on till September 15, 6am to 6pm. Entry fee is ₹40 for adults and ₹20 for children.