Now Reading: Kerala farmer wins Kera Kesari award for three-decade organic coconut farming
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Kerala farmer wins Kera Kesari award for three-decade organic coconut farming
Kerala farmer wins Kera Kesari award for three-decade organic coconut farming
Kerala has conferred the Kera Kesary Award-2025 on 74-year-old K.K. Xaviour, a settler farmer from Chakkittappara, for three decades of organic coconut farming using high-yielding Kuttiyadi saplings. His two-acre plantation, started 30…
The Story in Brief
Kerala has conferred the Kera Kesary Award-2025 on 74-year-old K.K. Xaviour, a settler farmer from Chakkittappara, for three decades of organic coconut farming using high-yielding Kuttiyadi saplings. His two-acre plantation, started 30 years ago with nearly 100 saplings, relies on cow dung, cow urine, and rainwater harvesting, no chemical fertilisers.
Xaviour, who migrated from Kottayam decades ago, also grows fruits, pepper, arecanut, and rubber with his wife Alice, without external labour. Agricultural Officer Rasma Nair called him a model farmer. The award recognises independent efforts to promote organic coconut cultivation in the state.
The Indian Opinion
Organic farming is often painted as unviable at scale, but K K Xaviour’s two-acre plot, profitable for 30 years, quietly disproves that. The common narrative pits agrochemicals against starvation, yet here, cow dung and rainwater yield high returns without hired labour. Neither side benefits from exaggerating one model as a universal fix. The real test: will more Krishi Bhavans actively document and back such proven organic methods, or leave them as exceptional, uncopied examples?
Source: thehindu.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
