Making use of the new world of opportunties knocking their doors, farmers in Kerala will soon roll out the red carpet for tourists, with the state tourism department evolving new strategies to aggressively market farm tourism in a big way.

An agriculture dominated state, the god's own country, has tremendous potential for developing farm tourism in a big way without much additional investment, Kerala tourism sources said.

About 3,50,000 hectares of land under paddy cultivation can be transformed to tourist attractions in order to transfer the benefits of tourism directly to the farmers.

Though the project Green Farms Kerala was launched in September last year, it did not take off on expected lines, Kerala tourism director M Shivashankar told PTI.

Extensive marketing had to be done for the project to deliver its desired results, he said.

The government had received some applications and a committee would look into them, he said adding that the response so far had been good.

During the first year, the aim was to give go-aheads to only 10 projects, which is expected to revitalise the agriculture sector.

The state has more than one third of its cultivable area under coffee, rubber, pepper, cardamom and ginger plantations and another one third under coconut plantation, he said.

From conducting farm tours to enabling tourists to be a part of the daily activities in the farm, from showcasing and selling farm produces to offering visitors a taste of the local cuisine, the Green Farms Kerala will generate additional income from farms and plantations, he said.

An individual or a group owning at least 10 acres of plantation at, or near, a tourist centre or along an established tourist circuit or major transport corridor, can be a part of the venture, the Tourism department sources said.

All one needs to do is to develop the farm and add on a host of components and facilities as prescribed by Kerala tourism.

Adequate parking area, stalls for shopping area outside or inside the farm, restaurant, toilet facilities are among the facilities expected at these ventures.

The government has decided to incentivise to the tunes of 25 per cent for the additional specified facilities targeting exclusively the tourists subject to a maximum of Rs 500,000.

Kerala tourism will also facilitate farm owners in getting loans from commercial banks, at low interest rates.

It will also market all the units under the Green Farms Kerala.

The venture is likely to provide employment to about 2,000 persons and provide avenues for private investment of about Rs 10 crore (Rs 100 million) within two years.

To ensure the sustainability of the approved green farm units, there would be a permanent mechanism that monitors their activities.