Kochi, India, 21 January 2014: The headquarters of Kerala Catholic Bishops' Council
(KCBC) in South India, has bagged first prize for both flower garden and horticulture
sections in the Cochin Flower Show this year, successfully implementing the Church's
green policy.
The Ernakulum District Agri-horticultre Society at Jawaharlal
Nehru International Stadium in Ernakulum organized the January 9–15 show.
Second
place in the flower garden section went to Kochi International Airport and third place
to Rajagiri Engineering Collage run by Carmelites of Mary Immaculate priests.
The
compound of Pastoral Orientation Center, which houses the KCBC offices, has been implementing
the green policy of the Kerala Church in the past years, said Father Stephen Alathara,
KCBC deputy secretary general in a press release.
The center got second and
third price in 2012 and 2013 in flower garden but this is the first time they got
first prize for both, he said. Horticultural society has chosen the centre’s garden
for different studies since it has verity of flowers, fruits and vegetables, the release
said.
The four acres of vegetable garden in the center produces chemical-free
vegetables and fruits round the year. The centre grows cabbage, cauliflower, beans,
cassava and different kinds of plantains all throughout the year, it said.
The
center has also initiated a “zero-waste” policy and all the waste is turned into organic
fertilizer. It uses biogas produced from the waste for cooking needs of the center,
it said.Source: UCAN