Agriculture and allied activities play a major role in the varied programs of CHASS. The department is addressing the following issues.

• • Unorganised and disoriented farming community
  • Food scarcity and increasing dependency on market
  • Increasing unemployment
  • Non remunerative prices for cash crops and marketable surplus of commodities
  • Biodiversity imbalances
  • Soil erosion and degradation
  • Youth despondency to agriculture
  • Insufficiency in science & technology promotion and applications
  • Agriculture crisis in Kuttanad

Major activities

i) Interface with government departments

The Farmers Clubs have developed rapport with different departments in the agricultural sector and availed the benefits of their projects and programmes to the farmers. Rice Research Centre, Horticulture Mission, ATMA, State Coconut Development Board, KVK, VFVCK, agriculture offices etc. are the major departments having shared programmes and projects.

ii) Orientation Programmes for farmers

Orientation/ Capacity building programmes are arranged for participant farmers in different agro-based subjects such as, sustainable organic farming, scientific agriculture practices, crop rotation, multi-cropping, intercropping and poly-culture

iii) Maeketing Initiatives (Nattuchantha and Sunday Markets)

CHASS initiated open markets for agriculture products at Changanacherry and Gandhinagar. The markets are functioning well and hundreds of farmers and families make use of the benefits. The farmers assemble here on all tuesdays and saturdays for marketing the agri-products and the people around the area are able to get fresh products with lesser price. In addition to this, 60 linked markets are also functioning at different locations for helping the farmers.

iv) Kitchen Gardening- Veetumuttathoru Poshakathottam

Veetumuttathoru Poshakathottam promoted by CHASS since the past 20 years is still being practised by more than 5000 families in Kottayam and Alappuzha districts. Farmers are getting vegetable seeds/seedlings along with carry bags and organic manures from CHASS at a reasonable rate.

v) FPO-Farmer Producer Organization

CHASS in collaboration with NABARD conducted an orientation cum promotion meeting of the farmers clubs in Kottayam District.

vi) Haritha Samrudhi

Haritha samrudhi is a mission to develop and promote the agriculture based activities with the cooperation of government departments and agricultural officers of various regions. The aim of the programme is to provide chemical free food. 2819 families have collaborated with this scheme

vii)Samrudha Argriculture Nursery

Samrudha Agriculture Nursery Kurumpanadom is a demonstration farm and a plant nursery in support of the agriculture programmes being promoted by CHASS. Samrudha is situated in Kurumpanadom, a rural agriculture village 12 kilometres away from CHASS headquarters. The ultimate aim of Samrudha is to promote sustainable organic farming and to protect the interests of farmers. Samrudha is famous for its demonstration plots for coconut, rubber, plantain, banana, vegetables, roots & tubers, pepper, ginger etc. Samrudha has extended its service to more than 10000 farmers by way of awareness creation, model farm creation and supply of seeds, seedlings, grow bags etc.