KSBB Joins hand with KAU

May 20 2013
New Delhi

The Kerala State Biodiversity Board (KSBB) has joined hands with Kerala Agricultural University (KAU) for a project to restore the ecology of the Cardamom Hill Reserve (CHR) in Idukki, a region blighted by the indiscriminate use of chemical pesticides.

The project involves promoting organic farming of cardamom. The pilot phase will be implemented by KAU in a demonstration plot of 100 acres on the campus of the Cardamom Research Station at Pambadumpara.

Based on a survey in the Udumbanchola taluk, KSBB has mooted a package of participatory schemes to conserve the biodiversity of CHR which is under threat from logging, poaching, encroachments, and climate change.

Promotion of orchid cultivation in cardamom plantations is one of the proposals for augmenting the biodiversity of the CHR region, home to about 40 native orchid species. Dr. Laladhas said commercial orchid cultivation could be taken up by farmers without any additional infrastructure for irrigation and plant protection. The climatic conditions and irrigation facilities were conducive to growing orchids as a multi-tier canopy in cardamom gardens.

Source– http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/cleansing-chr-of-pesticide/article4730654.ece

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