YOUTH FARMING

YOUTH FARMING

Finance Minister K.M. Mani has said that the United Democratic Front will set up 50,000 greenhouses across the State in the next five years with a view to addressing the unemployment problem facing this highly literate State in a time-bound manner.Mr. Mani was inaugurating a seminar on agriculture development in Thiruvalla on Friday afternoon.According to him, wooing the educated unemployed youth to the field of agriculture by setting up innovative Bio-parks on the lines of the Technopark was a major agenda of the UDF government.The Minister said two Rice-parks would be set up in the State's rice bowls of Palakkad and Kuttanad, besides three Coconut-parks in Thiruvananthapuram, Central Kerala and Malabar.Value-added products would be produced at these bio-parks at international standards and more youths would be attracted to this innovative venture, he said.

Mr. Mani said it was for the first time in the history of the State a budget allocation of Rs.25 crore had been made for implementing various development projects at Sabarimala.He said the Zero-Waste Sabarimala Project launched by the government in November last was his dream-project to make the South India's major pilgrim centre free of litters and pollution.Mr. Mani said funds had been sanctioned for setting up a modern sewage treatment plant at Sabarimala, and for capacity augmentation of the existing plant at Cheriyanavattom near Pampa.Allocation of Rs.1 crore had been made for construction of a double-storey ‘nadappanthal' at Sabarimala.Roofing of the remaining stretch of the Pampa-Sannidhanam path and construction of a new queue complex between Saramkuthi and Marakkoottom were the other projects to be launched this year itself, he added.

                                       Prof. John Kurakar