Farmers of Mankulam village panchayat in Kerala’s Idukki district are nursing their soil to reverse the damage done to it over the years. They have begun with adopting new farming practices and bidding adieu to pesticides and chemical fertilizers over the past year. Their aim: To transform Mankulam into an organic village panchayat, a first-of-its-kind in the state, by 2011.

Once the feat is achieved, it would be another feather in Mankulam's cap. Five years ago, it had earned the status of being the first village panchayat in the country to implement a mini-hydel project in association with the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation Regional Centre for Small Hydro Power. The panchayat installed a hydel project of 110 KW to meet its power requirements and found a mention in the UN Energy report.

The effort to transform Mankulam into an organic village was initiated under the Idukki Organic Project in 2005. The project, conceived by Kerala Agricultural Development Society (KADS), an NGO floated by farmers in the district, was meant to draw as many as farmers towards organic farming. Around 2,200 farmers of 32 village local bodies in

the district have so far been declared organic farmers.

Inspired by the response from the farmers of the district and considering the village’s geographical features, KADS chose Mankulam. The entire panchayat area is surrounded by forests, which would make the organic makeover easy. The panchayat, spread over 12 divisions, has 4,000-odd agricultural families. The Spices Board, the State Agriculture Department, the Local Self-Government Department and the National Centre of Organic Farming (NCOF) under the Union Agricultural Ministry are also involved in the project.

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