INSPIRING STORY

This green paradise belongs to 70-year-old A R S Vadhyar, a civil engineer. “City-dwellers with their busy jobs often complain that they don’t have time and space to grow anything. But we have been successfully doing rooftop farming for the past 15 years,” says Vadhyar. When Vadhyar started terrace farming, many thought he was crazy. But now a large number of people in cities and towns of Kerala are growing fruits and vegetables without using chemical fertilisers, pesticides and insecticides. Those who take up terrace farming are not regular farmers, but professionals such as engineers, doctors, employees from the public and private sectors, senior citizens, women homemakers and students. “There could be a minimum of 20,000 rooftop cultivators in each of the 14 districts in the state,” says K Prathapan, director, State Horticulture Mission, which has been promoting organic vegetable farming. “The main reason for this trend is growing health consciousness and fear of consuming contaminated food,” adds Prathapan.