Kudumbashree Mission is all set to make it big on farming by stabilizing 24,000 hectares of land for organic farming and by setting up 978 farmer facilitation centres across Kerala. The plan fund for the project is awaiting approval from the Centre and a meeting will be held to finalize that on June 17. “We are planning to implement this as part of Mahila Kisan Shakthigaran Pariyojana (MKSP), a central government assisted project aimed at ensuring gender equity through maximum participation of women,” said Kudumbasree Mission executive director K B Valsala Kumari. “Kudumbasree also plans to set up one farmer facilitation Centres in each panchayat across the state. Each centre will provide required support for purchase of farming equipment and lease for farmers,” she said. The 10,000 women master farmers will support the farmers in transfer of technology from farmer facilitation centre,” she said. The project functions through women farmers in 40,000 joint liability groups with microcredit from banks, she said. From 10,000 women master farmers, this organic farming initiative will be extended to two lakh women farmers and subsequently all the farmers will be trained to take up the initiative forward. “It would take time to ensure that the soil is free of toxic chemical pesticides and a stage will be set for natural organic farming, so that the state government can meet the target set to declare Kerala an 0rganic farming state by 2016,” Kudumbasree officials said. “With a network of around 40 lakh women farmers across the state, it will be the largest women’s movement in Asia involved in collective farming as an extension of the Kudumbasree initiative launched in 1998 to fight poverty,” said N Jagajeevan, programme officer of the Kudumbasree Mission on agriculture.