Cheruthuruthi (Thrissur): Now Kerala Kalamandalam is not only a centre of arts, but house of agriculture too. Just like they take care of the traditional art forms, the empty land on the premises of the deemed university is used for cultivation.
The agricultural activities in Kalamandalam was initiated under the leadership of National Service Scheme (NSS) in 2017-18. Later, Vice Chancellor T K Narayanan took special interest in continuing agriculture on the campus and the students were introduced to basic lessons in farming along with studies in art subjects.
Various farming projects including flower farming in Onam season by Kudumbashree, rain guard scheme and land paddy farming were implemented in Kalamandalam at different times. Though some of them failed, they did not stop and continued with the venture.
Now different varieties of bananas, ivy gourd, ginger, turmeric, mango ginger, yam, tapioca, brinjal, snake gourd, okra, long beans, chilli, bitter gourd, pumpkin, ash gourd are cultivated here in various seasons. Also coconut, mango and jackfruit are available aplenty in the compound. In some months, about 120 kilograms of ivy gourd is harvested from the farm.
As Kalamandalam follows residential education system, the vegetables harvested from the farm is used for cooking food for the students. They also provided vegetables to community kitchens during the lockdown period. The staff in Kalamandalam are given the responsibility of the agriculture.
