HILIYA RESORT & ORGANIC FARM
Where we are?
Hiliya is situated in Wayanad district of Kerala. The name Wayanad is derived from “Vayalnadu” means the land of paddy fields. Hiliya is situated on the banks of a small river across a tropical forest with wild life.
Our farm
Hiliya farm is developed in acres of prime wetland. We cultivate coffee, cardamom, vanilla, pepper, areca nut, fruit trees, rubber, coconut, ginger, vegetables etc. We adopt organic farming methods. “Robusta” coffee, “nhallani” and “PB-3” cardamom, “karimunda” and “panniyoor” pepper are the crop varieties grown in the farm
Organic Farming
Organic farming is one of the several approaches to sustainable agriculture. Our plantations consist of natural soil and we retain the originality strictly during the course of farming right from the seeds and planting materials to manure, pest control and harvest. Our approach is completely chemical free, ensuring the total absence of pesticides and poisons either in the process or in the products.
Our Methods & Aim
We practice inter- cropping, mulching and integration of crops and livestock. Properly managed organic farming reduces and eliminates water pollution and helps conserve water and soil in the farm. We would be interested to work jointly with large organizations to develop new certified agricultural products. We are also interested in promoting eco tourism.
Farming Practices (in a nutshell)
To make vanilla cultivation more sustainable we grow it as a mixed crop using areca nut as support and shade tree. Mulching is done by fallen areca nut leaves. We use slurry as the main fertilizer. Cardamom is cultivated in the areca nut fields. Birds or other predators control most of the pests or hand picked. Neemcake is used as a pesticide and fertilizer.
Monsoon season is busy with manuring. Usually we use cow dung and other organic manures and bio-fertilizers. November –December is the harvesting season of coffee. We grow plantains, ginger, turmeric, nutmeg etc as inter crops in the plantation along with mango, jackfruit, orange, lemon, guava etc. We have our own recycling system. i.e. we make compost from the waste and fallen leaves, use them for mulching and as shades etc. We use the earthworm “Eudrilus Eugeniae “for making vermi-compost
As a Resort
We are promoting ecotourism. We have a seventy five year old heritage bungalow in the farm with historical and revolutionary importance, a two bedroom cottage and a two storey block with five bedrooms at present. Guests can enjoy the scenic beauty of tropical forest from the bungalow. They can enjoy trekking and bird watching or fishing. They have enough opportunity to participate in farming activities. Rubber tapping, weed clearing, compost making, co