Brahmapuram  :

Several people, including  professionals, have recently turned farmers by starting their own gardens or by setting up organic farms at home.

Apart from the expenses incurred on setting up the vegetable garden, these farmers are spending large sums of money for buying the manure for the plants. The money they spend for purchasing manure ranges above Rs 30 per kg, and for the branded items, the price is over Rs 100 in the market. But a little-known fact is that the bio-manure generated from the Brahmapuram waste treatment plant is available at just Rs 6 per kilogram. The manure, named ‘City compost’, now a hit among the vegetable cultivators in the city, is also available at Rs 300 for a pack of 50 kg from Brahmapuram waste treatment plant.

“As it is generated from garbage waste, the manure has all the ingredients needed for the vegetables to grow. There is no need for adding  further ingredients as it has the contents of meat, blood, food waste and all types of other waste. The price, compared to the market rates, is also low. As we are not running it as a profit-generating enterprise, we haven’t opened any outlets in the city,” said A A Byju, who has been running the plant on contract basis for the last four years.

With organic farming become a trend in the state, the demand for the manure from the plant has skyrocketed. “Every day, on an average, around 40 tonnes of manure is made, of which 70-80 per cent is sold. Earlier, we could only sell around 10 tonnes per day and had to find space to keep it. But, from last year, there has been a huge demand from different places,” he added.

Interestingly, the demand for the manure is mainly from Tamil Nadu districts.

“Some are using the manure to prepare their product for the market. Most of them will mix the manure with their product as this is the cheapest and of the best quality. Several companies sellinng branded manure have also approached us for the item,” said Byju.

The contractor, along with his team, is also distributing the manure free of cost to some NGOs, schools, hospitals and government offices to support vegetable cultivation. The rest is also used in their farm set up at Brahmapuram plant.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Kochi / by Anil Kumar T / August 03rd, 2015