Indian Pepper Farm
Placement number: 0044
Location: India
Preferred Languages: Malayalam and English
Date: October - March and July -
August
Minimum Period: 2 weeks
Why Join
Us?
Combining the local
agriculture, traditional wisdom and local cuisine presented in the real way.
This Indian Farm provides an alternative to mass tourism.
In
the early 14th century, the area was ruled by three major kingdoms; Travancore in
the south, Kochi in the middle and Zamorin of the Calicut in the north. These
kingdoms also had very powerful principalities inside them. One of the
principalities of former Travancore is called Vadakkumkur, comprising the
present day Muvattupuzha, Thodupuzha, Meenachil areas. The Pimenta was the name
for the area called Vadakkumkur of the Travancore Kingdom where the world's best
quality pepper is grown.
This land was the
European explorer's dream and Vasco da Gama, the Portuguese captain, discovered Kerala.
Today's traveler can find Kerala but is not able to explore the treasure trove
of the Keralan Midlands because the "Lonely Planet" and most of the other so
called guidebooks and accommodation directories have not discovered this place
or any of the other interesting places in the Midlands. This gave us the idea of
opening up a place in our garden for travelers, which is in the heart of The
Pimenta, formerly known as Vadakkumkur. It is a
place where you can genuinely experience the culture, cuisine and life of the
Keralan Midlands using the principles of sustainable as well as responsible
tourism.
Background
The midlands of Kerala are the place
where spices, food and fruits were naturally grown in homestead forest gardens
that were eventually lost to rubber plantations. Spices were moved up to the
hills where the forests were cut and plantations were established, damaging the
ecosystems in a significant way (monoculture plantations e.g. tea, coffee,
pepper and rubber). Here, we are making an effort to bring back the glory of the
Midlands by establishing a homestead forest garden (with bio organic farming)
and growing spices in their natural habitat. This is quite different and
environmentally more sensible than growing spices and crops in the cleared
forest ranges in the mountains or the dense mangrove forests in the backwaters
as a monoculture. We are also trying to conserve the bio diversity of the region
by raising lots of medicinal herbs in the garden itself; a self financed
economically viable conservation initiative by the family in the region. As part
of the conservation activity, we also preserve the recipes of the region and use
them on a day-to-day basis. Of course, this is something different for travelers
who like to enjoy variety and experience in
depth.
Philosophy
HARITHA FARMS
HARITHA (meaning GREEN)
is a spice and coconut garden of 2.5hectares situated on a hilly area of land
facing paddy fields and a small hillock. Established in 1962 as a rubber and
coconut garden, sustainable farming techniques were introduced in 1990, and the
use of pesticides and weed killers was stopped. In 1993,the rubber trees were
removed and we stopped using chemical fertilizers for effective sustainable
farming while maintaining the bio-diversity.
Plants now include coconut,
pineapple, bananas, different types of yam, tapioca, spices such as pepper,
ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, turmeric ,vanilla and other tropical fruit trees and
medicinal herbs. The farm also maintains a small number of cows, which supplies
the biogas for the kitchen. Our endeavor is to develop a role model for
economically viable eco farming. This is simply a return to traditional farming
system called ‘The Thodi’ (tropical home garden or forest garden). Better
described as an improvised homestead garden, which was the backbone of the
Keralan agriculture and ecology
In 1995, we started day visits to the
farm for travelers who are deeply interested in the culture and food of this
area. The pressure from the travelers led us to open accommodation to guests in
1996, to supplement the farm income. Thus, we became pioneers in
eco-agro-tourism in South India. The response from the early visitors was
inspiring and encouraged us to continue. The interactions were also very
beneficial to both sides. Now the accommodation is offered in newly built
cottages, named as 'The Pimenta' close to the farmhouse, but at the same time
ensuring the guests' privacy.
Minimum number of
guests
We take care to
keep the number of guests limited so as to serve them better and to minimize the
impact on the village. This also helps to create an atmosphere of informality or
a" home away from home", yet maintaining privacy among guests as well as the
hosts. There are also possibilities for study groups such as university students
or people interested in development studies, school students etc to make day
visits and have lunch at the farm. The day visit groups are restricted to
one group per week.
People behind the project
The farm is owned and run by Mrs. Mathew,
wife of late Prof.T.C.Mathew, her son Jacob Mathew a lawyer and his son
Ranjeeth Mathew Jacob who is a school student. She is helped by Mr.Madhu Shanker
who is responsible for Guest accommodations and food, and by Mr.Chandran who
takes care of the day-to-day activities on the farm. Helpers from the local area
are also part and parcel of the activities on the farm when we need more human
labor, such as at planting and harvest times.
Role of Volunteer
We
provide volunteer opportunities in guiding, hosting, first aid and general help
(ie cleaning cooking etc). We will
adapt your stay to your needs.
Cost
Food
Free
Accommodation
Free
Travel
In
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