How Ulloor Krishi Bhavan in Thiruvananthapuram is handholding small scale farmers

Lissy Radhakrishnan is all smiles when she takes us through her journey as an agripreneur. We meet her at the recently-opened Krishi Samridhi retail outlet, a space attached to Ulloor Krishi Bhavan at Parottukonam, in Thiruvananthapuram, where you get over 100 products of the Krishikkottams or farming collectives under the Krishi Bhavan.

Rainbow, which is Lissy’s Krishikkoottam, sells spice powders, cut vegetables, pickles, and coconut oil among other products. Nearly 50 such collectives spread across 11 wards have been registered under the Krishi Bhavan. Krishikkoottam is an initiative of the Kerala Government’s Department of Agriculture and Farmer’s Welfare and is an extension of the campaign to promote farming in households.

A view of Krishi Samridhi retail outlet
| Photo Credit:
SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

The Krishi Bhavan, led by Sopna S, the agricultural officer, has set forth a small agri revolution through multiple initiatives over the last one year. The Krishi Samridhi outlet is the recent addition to it. A highlight is the traceability QR codes of each Krishikkoottam displayed at the outlet, which helps customers to browse the produce’s journey through photographs and videos.

Besides fresh vegetables and fruits, the outlet sells honey, millets and millet-based products, milk and dairy products, rice, pickle, fruit-based drinks, spices, medicinal herbs etc. The products are sold under the brand Ulloor Greens, on the lines of Kalliyoor Greens, which Sopna had taken the initiative to launch while working as the agricultural officer at Kalliyoor, the vegetable hub of the district.

“We have taken a multi-pronged approach to support farmers. A major initiative is the launch of secondary agriculture, wherein the farmers are encouraged to take up value-addition and processing,” explains Sopna. She adds, “Production alone has been the focus of most of the farmers for long. Take the case of banana. When they sell the fruit as it is they seldom get any profit. That is why they are trained to come up with value-added products,” she adds.

Customers at the outlet
| Photo Credit:
SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

This has been made possible through the distribution of machines and other equipment, with the Department of Agriculture providing subsidy. “Thanks to the financial support of the Krishi Bhavan, I could buy refrigerator, mixer grinder, vegetable cutter, small stove etc. I am also able to provide employment to a few women at my unit,” says Lissy.

Sopna adds, “The Department provides financial support of up to ₹1 lakh. Most of the Krishikkoottams have benefited from it in one way or other. Earlier the farmers did not have basic infrastructure; they had no packing machine and some of them didn’t know how to seal bottles. After initial hiccups, they picked up processing, packing and labelling,” she says.

A view of the retail outlet
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SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

The Krishi Bhavan has also been encouraging the cultivation of various vegetables on nearly 20 acres. “Each collective is assigned a different vegetable and the cultivable area ranges from 10 cents to two acres. Saplings/seeds are distributed; we also provide guidance and technical support. The produce will be collected by us and sold at the outlet. Since Vishu is about to arrive, we have given the saplings and seeds of kanivellari (golden cucumber), kani mathan (pumpkin), amaranthus, long beans etc,” she says.

The retail outlet itself is run by a Krishikkoottam, Karmasena, which has an eight-member team. Binu G., a member of Karmasena says, “We cultivate on two acres and this include tomato, chillies, sugar cane, watermelon, agathi poovu (Hummingbird flower) etc. We also bring out value-added products such as roasted coconut, coconut milk etc. We had a good harvest of Mangalapuram Ooru Venda [a traditional lady’s finger variety from Mangalapuram region] and we are selling the seeds now.“

Sopna S (third from left) with her team at the shop
| Photo Credit:
SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

He adds that most of the farmers under the Krishi Bhavan are into small-scale farming. “If there is an extra produce, they bring it to our outlet. This can be any homegrown produce, say vegetables, mangoes or even rose apples,” he says.

Sopna mentions that the Krishi Bhavan has been able to provide employment for many individuals by involving them in production.

Besides the retail outlet, the Krishi Bhavan has launched an online market. Home delivery is available within a specific radius.

Connect with 9037790044 via WhatsApp to join the online agro marketing group of Ulloor Krishi Bhavan and place orders. The retail outlet is open from 9.30am to 6pm on all working days

Published – April 01, 2026 08:00 am IST