Kochi corporation to plant 50,000 marigold saplings for Onam season

Kochi: To tap the potential of growing demand for flowers during Onam season, Kochi corporation has started cultivating marigold on a large scale. Plan is to plant around 50,000 saplings in various divisions of corporation under people’s planning programme.Mayor V K Minimol inaugurated the initiative at Vyttila on Sunday. “Normally, a generous amount is being earmarked from people’s planning programme funds for projects related to development of agriculture. However, many of such projects designed by most of the local bodies fail to yield proper results. Main reason is that plants are cultivated without considering demand. This causes much loss. We have designed the marigold project considering various factors including demand,” said Vyttila division councillor V P Chandran.At least 10 cents of vacant land in each of the 76 divisions of corporation will be identified for the project. “Saplings can be planted with the support of various groups of workers including those in employment guarantee scheme. In many wards, there are vacant plots which have become a dumpsite. Chances of spreading various communicable diseases also can be prevented by avoiding waste disposal. Besides, we can be self-reliant to an extent in meeting the demand for flowers during Onam,” Chandran, who is the chairpersons of working group for agriculture in the corporation, added.Saplings were procured from the farm run by Kerala Agriculture University at Vyttila. Around 40,000 saplings have been distributed to farmers groups in various divisions. Beneficiaries have to pay Rs 2 per sapling.