Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday declared a seed farm, located in Aluva here, as the first carbon neutral farm in the country. A significant reduction in carbon emission has helped the seed farm, under the Agricultural Department, achieve carbon neutral status, he said making the announcement. The total amount of carbon emission from the farm, located at Thuruthu in Aluva, in the last one year was 43 tons but its overall procurement was 213 ton, he said. Compared to the emission rate, as many as 170 tons of more carbon have been procured at the farm, which helped it to be declared as the first carbon neutral seed farm in the country, the Chief Minister explained. "Carbon neutral farms will be set up in all 140 Assembly constituencies.Efforts have already been launched to make 13 farms in Kerala carbon neutral," he said. Carbon neutral agricultural methods would be implemented through women's groups and such interventions would be made in the tribal sector as well, Vijayan said. Even as the state moves towards the goal to achieve food self-sufficiency, plans to maintain ecological equilibrium are also equally important, the Chief Minister said. As many as 30 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions come from agriculture and this can be prevented and climate change can be regulated through carbon neutral agricultural practices, he added. State Agriculture Minister P Prasad and Industries Minister P Rajeeve were among those who took part in the programme.
