What is the relevance of doing aquaponics in a coastal village? How is it possible? How do they accept the concept of farming fish and vegetables in a single space? These are some of the questions asked by the common when the concept of aquaponics was introduced in Cherai, a coastal village situated in Kochi, Kerala.
Cherai is famous for its magnificent scenic beauty of backwaters and beach. Now, it has one more feather added to her cap being “India’s First Aquaponics Village”. Apart from tourists, the village attracts farmers and entrepreneurs from different parts of the country with its successful sustainable story.
Two years ago, Pallippuram Service Cooperative Bank started aquaponics project on pilot basis with an objective of farming chemical-free vegetables and fish. They gave guidance and financial support to the farmers with the assistance given by MPEDA (Marine Products Export Development Authority). MPEDA provided fish seeds, feeds, water quality detection kit and technical training for the farmers. After one year, the number of farmers who wanted to master the concept has gone up and the project has been expanded as “Cherayi Aquaponics Gramam”.
“In the beginning, there were only a few farmers and it was difficult for us to convince them. As they moved into this farming system, they realized the importance of natural and common resources for sustaining their own livelihood. Now, more than 200 aquaponics units and so many people are being interested to start this” says Sathyan Mayyattil, former president of the bank. He is one of the masterminds who initiated this project.
Article Credit :- krishi jagran