For Parayil family of Olavaipu farming used to be an integral part of life in their village in Cherthala having vast stretches of Pokkali farmlands.
Over the years, the Pokkali fields in the possession of the family remained fallow owing to cost overruns and scarcity of labour. But a member of the family, P.K. Hormis Tharakan, the former super cop and ex chief of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), is all set to revive farming in his ancestral land.
Mr. Tharakan launched farming in five hectares of land at his native place in Thaikkattussery grama panchayat. A distinguished IPS officer of the 1968 batch, Mr.Tharakan feels truly at home while devoting his attention to farming, after long years of strenuous job as a top man in the echelons of security, having served in the capacity of Director General of Police of Kerala, chief of RAW and adviser to the Governor of Karnataka.
Mr. Tharakan said, ‘’It was almost 20 years ago that farming had been taken up in the family’s paddy fields there”. He sowed paddy seeds in the fields with the assistance of farm labour a week ago and is eager to see the crop coming up.
The government is extending support to revive farming and he is happy about it. His farm field will get help from the Agency for Development of Aquaculture Kerala (ADAK), which is promoting the novel scheme ‘oru nellum, oru meenum’ (one paddy, one fish).
The scheme envisages farming paddy and fish in successive crop seasons. Up to 80 per cent cost on infrastructure such as strengthening of bunds and cultivation of mangroves is aided by the government agency under the National Adaptation Fund on Climate Change.
The former DGP Mr.Tharakan is concerned at the scarcity of farm labour.]]>
