Cauliflowers on sentry

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The cauliflower saplings were probably surprised at the care and attention showered on them by men in uniform. The plants, lined up in the courtyard of the Police Headquarters, Vellayambalam, rewarded the avant-garde farmers with a handsome yield just after two-and-a-half months. ADGP Venugopal K Nair reaped the first round of crop and handed them over to IG Kori Sanjay Kumar Gurudin on Thursday morning. The cauliflowers are the wards of the vegetable garden on the premises of the headquarters, grown as part of the ‘Pachakkari Samrudhi Nadinum Nagarathinum’ project, a joint venture of State Horticulture Mission and Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana.The winter crop was planted last year also and the good yield had inspired the policemen to double the number of plants this year. “Last year we harvested about 50 cauliflowers. But, this time we planted more than 100 plants of which, 20 were reaped,” says sub-inspector S Jayakumaran Nair, who is in charge of the upkeep of the vegetable garden. The vegetables are planted in grow bags supplied by the Karshika Karma Sena of Kudappanakkunnu Krishi Bhavan, a team of trained farming professionals. Apart from cauliflower, long beans and cabbage, maize was also grown on the premises. Jayakumaran Nair is assisted by other officers in taking care of the plants. DGP Jacob Punnoose takes special interest in the maintenance of the garden, says Jayakumaran. Special Cell SP A Vijayan, Headquaters SP A V Joseph and others were also present during the harvest.