THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A scheme to supply the bio manure produced from the city garbage to households has been launched by the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation. The programme was inaugurated by Ports Minister V Surendran Pillai at the Press Club here on Thursday. Speaking at the function, the Minister lauded the unique venture. The Minister appealed to the people to use bio manure instead of chemical fertilisers for farming. He also said that the bio manure will be marketed with the assistance of FACT and Kudumbashree units. The Minister handed over the first packet of the bio manure to veteran farmer Sasidharan Nair and representatives of Kudumbashree units. The bio manure would be produced at the Vilappilsala garbage treatment plant. The production cost of one kg of bio manure is ` 3.5. It will be marketed through Kudumbasree outlets for just ` 5 per kg. Thiruvananthapuram Corporation Mayor C Jayan Babu and Deputy Mayor V Jayaprakash, among others, spoke on the occasion. Around 10,000 tonnes of the bio manure has been stored with FACT. To supply this stock to the common man, the Corporation has started this venture with help of Kudumbashree. The Vilappilasala garbage treatment plant was under a cloud when it was managed by a private company. It was taken over by the government for ` 3 crore. The plant is now working to its maximum capacity, Corporation Health Standing Committee chairman G R Anil said. Presently, the plant is working as a model agency in disposal and recycling of garbage, he said.