Keralam’s Kudumbashree records ₹10.07 crore turnover from Onam vegetable, flower sales

A Kudumbashree farm group with flowers cultivated for Onam. (File photo) It was a golden Onam for the Kudumbashree’s farm livelihood (agriculture) vertical this year.The Onam markets organised in all 14 districts by the Kudumbashree to support the Keralam government’s market intervention efforts saw a record turnover of ₹10.07 crore in the six-day period from August 20 to 25.Products of over 33,000 joint liability groups (JLG) of women farmers were sold at these Onam markets.‘Onakkani’ initiative‘Onakkani’, the Kudumbashree’s pesticide-free vegetable cultivation initiative to provide local quality vegetables to consumers, saw sales of 1,580.88 tonne of vegetables at the Onam markets, recording a turnover of ₹8.91 crore.This year, Kudumbashree grew pesticide-free vegetables on nearly 20,500 acres, increasing the area under cultivation from the 8,913 acres last year, as part of Onakkani.A wide variety of vegetables, including cowpea, okra, long beans, tomatoes, green chillies, bitter gourd, snake gourd, bottle gourd, brinjal, pumpkin, and ash gourd, were cultivated to meet the Onam demand.NirappolimaUnder the ‘Nirappolima’ floriculture flagship initiative, 113.17 tonnes of flowers were cultivated by around 5,500 JLG farm groups for Onam. The sale of the flowers yielded a turnover of ₹1.16 crore.Marigolds were the most-cultivated, though support was given to farmers to grow other flowers as well.Last year, Kudumbashree grew flowers on 1,820 acres for Onam. This year, the area under floral cultivation was increased to 1,966.93 acres.Of the total turnover, Thrissur district recorded the maximum – ₹2.85 crore – to come first. Palakkad followed with a turnover of ₹1.62 crore, followed by Kannur with ₹85.5 lakh and Thiruvananthapuram with ₹79.93 lakh.Beyond ensuring adequate supply of quality vegetables and flowers in the market during Onam, the two initiatives were intended to make it possible for hundreds of women farmers in Kudumbashree neighborhood groups (NHGs) to secure a good income this festive season. Published - August 31, 2026 05:02 pm IST