Idukki(Kerala): The success story of Palluvathukkal Sojan, a native of Chinnakanal village in Kerala has become an inspiration to people across Kerala. After an immense struggle and perpetual perseverance he finally won the honour of being the best strawberry farmer in Idukki district.
Sojan has been active in organic and diversified farming for about 30 years which eventually has given a financial triumph to his crop cultivation. After his initial bitter experiences with strawberry farming, Sojan acquired the knowledge of cultivating strawberries through scientific techniques and earned tremendous success.
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With the support of the agriculture department, Sojan got trained in the scientific methods of strawberry farming from Pune.
Currently, he cultivates the highly productive, hybrid Nebula variety of Strawberry saplings. From around 5000 strawberry plants, Sojan generates a weekly income of Rs 15000.According to him strawberry is a crop with very high market potential and profitability.
He further added that while growing strawberries in an organic manner, marigold flowers and sunflowers are grown as interim crops which prevents pest attacks to a large extent. Moreover, Sojan has also invested into value-added products made of strawberry like jam and squash; setting a successful business model for others to get inspired.
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Palluvathukkal has a vision of expanding his business and helping people of his state to cultivate strawberries by the method of organic farming.
