Agriculture now moves into the field of tourism

Down south, estates like Kanan Devan Hills Plantations (erstwhile Tata Tea) and Woodbriar Group of Coimbatore feel tourismcan be a good source of income earner in the long term. Kerala government's recent decision to permit the use of 5% of plantation land for tourism and allied activities has inspired farmers to diversify. With 23,000 hectares of tea plantations spread over the Munnar high ranges in Kerala, the Kanan Devan is the largest tea corporate in south India with production over 20 million kg. The company plans to invest around Rs 100 crore in the next two to three years to give thrust to tourism.

By tying up with a hospitality company, it intends to manage 21 bungalows, many of which were built by the British when they started tea estates that were subsequently bought by the Tatas. "We will be setting a dairy project with 150 cows to manufacture products like cheese and chocolates to give a thrust to our tourism activities,'' said Kanan Devan MD Chacko P Thomas.

The Coimbatore-based Woodbriar Group, which has 23,000 acres of tea plantations ranging from the high ranges in Kerala to the Nilgiris in Tamil Nadu, is going for renovation of existing bungalows and construction of new cottages under its newly formed hospitality division. They have nine bungalows in Munnar, Valparai and Meghamalai.

"With the Kerala government's decision, we plan to build additional cottages in Munnar. In the past two years, there has been a steady increase in flow of tourists to our bungalows,'' pointed out Tharani Tharan, head of hospitality division of the plantation company. Besides the colonial ambience, the tourists get to enjoy the wildlife as the tea estates are located near the forest.

Most of the coffee estates in Karnataka are sprucing up their home-stay facilities to accommodate more tourists. "Earlier Coorg was the sought after destination. But now Chikmagalur is also becoming popular with its proximity to famous temples. The visitors are mostly IT professionals from Bangalore who come to enjoy weekends," said Nishant Gurjer, chairman of Karnataka Planters' Association. This has definitely added to the income of the growers as they charge on average Rs 1,500-2,000 per person for a day.

Tour operators have started pushing the concept of agri-tourism to travelers by making a farm visit as part of various tourism packages. Akhilesh Dubey from Delhi-based Creative Travels guides foreign tourists visiting Agra-Fatehpur Sikri circuit to spend a few hours or a night at Barara Village, 15 km from Agra. The village had been hosting international researchers and farmers under the International Farm Youth Exchange Programme from 1953 till 1980. "There is an interest among foreign tourists to see rural life. It is a growing segment," said Dubey.

A tourism official of a North Eastern state said that tea and cotton plantations across India are attracting a number of tourists from Japan, Korea and other South East Asian countries. Old British bungalows of the owners and managers attract tea & coffee connoisseurs, apart from other tourists.

"We have world-class farms and gardens. What needs to be done is to sell tea gardens as a boutique concept and customise the package as per the tourist needs," said tourist operator and farmer, Manoj Jalan, of Purvi Discovery.

Punjab tourism department has started registration process for farmers keen to promote their farms for home stay and farm tourism this month, according to Geetika Kalha, tourism secretary. "Tourism flow to farms increase during winters when weather conditions are ideal," she said, adding that these locations have become good weekend getaways.

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