God's own country yet to 'bless' farm tourism

Thiruvananthapuram, Mar 19: Farm tourism, which promises to give a fillip to the ailing plantation and farm sectors, is yet to take off in Kerala due to lack of adequate marketing and promotion efforts by the government.

The government has announced various initiatives to help the sector. Kearla Tourism Minister K C Venugopal said the state was thinking of giving subsidies to those providing not less than five acre of land for promoting farm tourism.

However, Mr Jaccob Mathew of Harita Farms, a pioneer in the sector said he does not agree with this strategy. ''Why should there be any subsidy? There is no need for any subsidy in the tourism sector,'' he told UNI.

Mr Mathew said though the government was introducing new schemes for tourism promotion in the state, the sector was not being given wide publicity.

''Unless people know where to go, then schemes go waste,'' Mr Mathew said while echoing the need for extensive networking for promoting the sector.

He advocated the use of internet for tapping the potential of the sector. ''The state could provide links on its website of various farms in the state. Moreover brochures of farm houses could be displayed and provided to visitors at tourism centres in different states and countries.

''All these things are known to all but the fact is nothing is done,'' he lamented.

Stressing on the need for linkage between different farms in the state, he said there is no dearth of infrastructure in the state for development.

''Moreover mere building of cottages in farms will not promote the sector. The tourists are not coming here to see how the cow is milked or the coconut is plucked. They spend money merely for relaxation,'' he said.

He also pointed out the need for peaceful ambience for development of farm tourism.

Mr Mathew Moozhiyil of BASIS International in Kottayam said there was lack of coordination between the different sectors of tourism.

However, many farmers are apprehensive about the mushrooming of buildings and infrastructure in and around agricultural land. They say it will only help in dwindling of land for cultivation in the state. A section of them felt the government should come up with new schemes for farmers instead of pumping crores of rupees into tourism.

Farm tourism is an emerging sector and the tourists are provided with an authentic taste of rural Kerala life and even introduced to traditional cultivation practices.

If the lacunae is removed, the rural landscape is certain to undergo a vast change by improving living standards of farmers while at the same time providing memorable experience to the tourists.

UNI