Yasoram Charitable Trust

Kerala Haritha Vidyalayam

Yasoram Charitable Trust instituted a novel scheme called Haritha Vidyalayam to promote agriculture among school students through vegetable farming, an economically viable and practically feasible form of agriculture. It is expected that the interest developed by the students will also be passed on to the elders in their homes. The larger aim of this venture is to decrease dependence on the neighbouring states for our requirement of vegetables and ultimately to be able to export vegetables to them.

In today’s world of increasing urbanization, only a lucky few are blessed with the luxury of ample land in the form of a kitchen garden or backyard. However, the beauty of vegetable gardens lies in fact that they can be grown even on roof tops as the experience of Mr. A. R. S. Vadhyar, Managing Trustee of Yasoram Charitable Trust shows. He has constructed the permanent beds on the terrace, suitable for fruit and vegetable garden, where vegetables from yam and colocasia to lady’s fingers and drumsticks and from tomatoes and Capsicum to every type of beans and greens and coconut and banana trees are grown. Articles regarding this roof top garden with photos have appeared in most of the leading news papers and also telecast in all leading television channels.

Schools selected for the Haritha Vidyalayam project would need to chalk out about 10 cents of land in the school compound for the purpose of agriculture. Financial assistance to the tune of Rs. 1,000/- would be provided by Yasoram Charitable Trust. The assistance could be used for ground preparation and the purchase of seeds, fertilizers and agricultural implements. Attractive prizes will be presented for the best school garden. The vegetables cultivated will be at the disposal of the schools themselves and the schools are free to earn income by selling vegetables to the public. The agriculture practised under the scheme would be strictly by means of organic fertilizers and organic pesticides. The use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides would be avoided. Such organically grown vegetables would not only provide healthy and naturally tasty vegetables to the agriculturalists, but would enjoy added value in the market owing to the increasing demand for organic vegetables.
Agriculture practised under Haritha Vidyalayam also brings in an additional advantage to the students. Time that is lost in mundane physical activity during the morning exercise can be fruitfully utilized for vegetable farming. The agricultural practise offers healthy physical activity. Now that the agriculturalists are in direct contact with green plants, they would also benefit from a healthy oxygen rich environment. To sum it up, Haritha Vidyalayam offers a healthy environment, healthy living and healthy food.

On announcement of the scheme in Ernakulam District, the District Collector, the District Educational Officer and the Joint Director of the Department of Agriculture all extended their whole hearted support for the scheme. The DEO ensured maximum participation from the schools.
The inauguration of Haitha Vidyalayam scheme will be conducted at the Government High Schools for Girls, Ernakulam at 10:00 AM on 1st August 2005