At Kanjoor’s brick kiln, a bountiful harvest of vegetables

For the fifth consecutive year since the deluge of 2018, the Kanjoor Service Cooperative Bank has successfully turned nearly two acres of a dusty brick kiln into an organic farm at Kanjoor near Kalady.

With Onam round the corner, the harvesting of an assortment of vegetables, including ladies’ fingers, bitter gourd, snake gourd, beans, and pumpkin, got under way on Monday. Marigold has also been cultivated on 40 cents for the first time, anticipating the demand for flowers during the festive season. The harvesting of flowers has also begun.

Some crops will be harvested on a daily basis and some on alternative days. The harvesting season, lasting September-end, is likely to collectively produce around 2.50 tonnes of vegetables, which may fetch nearly ₹2.50 lakh, while the sale of marigold may earn around ₹50,000.

“The sowing started towards the end of May when the beds prepared for drying of bricks became free, marking the end of the brick-making season, coinciding with the onset of the monsoon. The same workers engaged by the brick kiln do the farming as well while the bank provided seeds, manure, and technical advice. We hope to bring in more people and more kilns in the coming years,” said bank president M.B. Sasidharan.

The vegetables are much sought after and usually get sold out quickly. They are sold primarily through outlets run by the Edappally Service Cooperative Bank and the Kanjoor Service Cooperative Bank. The vegetable farming period lasts for 80 days, and the land is returned for brick kiln operations in October.

The acreage under cultivation this year is lower that what it was last year. Last year, farming was limited to a single kiln spread over three acres for fear of forecasts of potential floods. Nearly 900 kg of vegetables were harvested last year, generating revenue in the range of ₹3 lakh to ₹3.50 lakh.

The farming initiative suffered a major setback only in 2018 when the deluge completely washed away the crops.