Quaint Kerala hue billows from this organic farm in Kuttichira
The doctor-couple visit their ancestral house and engage in farming activities out of genuine interest in agriculture and being one with nature.
The doctor-couple visit their ancestral house and engage in farming activities out of genuine interest in agriculture and being one with nature.
The doctor-couple visit their ancestral house and engage in farming activities out of genuine interest in agriculture and being one with nature.
Dr MS Unnikrishnan, a gynaecologist and fertility specialist at the Craft Hospital and Research Centre in Kodungallur, is also a successful farmer who follows mixed farming and has a dairy farm. He belongs to a family of traditional farmers who have been indulging in organic agriculture for more than a century. Dr Unnikrishnan sees organic farming as a way of service to humanity.
Farming has been Dr Unnikrishnan’s favourite activity since childhood. Both his grandfathers were farmers who taught him the basics of agriculture. Dr Unnikrishnan, born to a famed agricultural family in Pulamon, Kuttichira, Kollam, grew up watching the incredible advantages of organic farming. Besides, they had been rearing cows too.
Meanwhile, Unnikrishnan’s mixed farming and dairy farm sprawls over four acres. He grows vegetables like lady's finger, bitter gourd, pumpkin, cucumber and spinach in the one-and-half acres of land close to the 'naalukettu' (ancestral home). Besides, there are various types of mango trees, jackfruit trees, abiu, rambutan, mangosteen, sapota and jaboticaba.
Lots of fruit-bearing trees could be seen in another one-and-half acres of land at the nearby village of Adnichanalloor. Meanwhile, Unnikrishnan resides at Thevally, around 9 kilometres away from Kuttichira. He grows many foreign fruit varieties here too.
The Nandanam dairy farm where he grows Gir variety of cows is at his ancestral house. Gir cows are the indigenous variety of Gujarat which costs almost Rs 1.5 – 2 lakh. Tharparker from Rajasthan, Poonkanoor (Andhra), and Krishna (Karnataka) varieties too are grown at the farm. Besides, Beetal goats, hundreds of country chicken, ducks and local varieties of ducks are also grown here. Meanwhile, super napier grass is grown in 50 cents specially for the feed. The fish pond in the compound has Indian mackerels.
Dr Unnikrishnan and his wife Dr Gopika Nair visit the farm whenever they get time. Dr Gopika is a paediatrician at the Craft Hospital and Research Centre. More than the monetary profit, the couple hopes to draw happiness out of agriculture and dairy farming activities. After taking whatever is required in their kitchen, they sell fresh milk and organically grown fruits and vegetables through various WhatsApp groups. These organic fruits and veggies grown without spraying chemical pesticides are in huge demand.
There are takers for fresh milk from the local breeds of cows. A litre of fresh milk fetches up to Rs 150 per litre. The cows are milked only once in a day and the rest of the milk is given to the calves. Besides, calves are sold at the farm for up to Rs 50,000, when they are three months old.
Gir and Tharparker cows have great immunity and hardly fall ill. Moreover, they can easily survive the harsh summer heat too. The milk of Poonkanoor cow which stands only three feet, is tastier. Poonkanoor cows are calm and can be milked by anyone. A mixture of cotton cakes and multigrain flour is their main feed. Besides, plantain stem, jackfruit and papaya too are given to the cows as they are indigenous varieties. Biogas is produced from the cow dung and the dung slurry is used as fertilizer in the farm.
Murali Mohan who retired from United India Insurance and Sreedevi who is a retired bank employee are Dr Unnikrishnan’s parents. Unnikrishnan has two children – Daksh Krishna and Amaya Krishna.
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