University of Agricultural Sciences, Bengaluru, is
encouraging the concept of terrace vegetable gardening to offset rising
prices and ensure access to quality produce.
“We need to ensure that all households take up kitchen gardening either on the ground floor or on terraces to have access to fresh vegetables and fruits. This is on lines similar to Chinese concept where every household has vegetable-fruit garden,” said M K Shankaralinge Gowda, principal secretary, department of horticulture, Government of Karnataka.
Now the state department of horticulture is all set to launch a project aimed at promoting kitchen gardens at the household level, urban horticulture on the premises of schools and anganwadis, and community gardens with a focus on vegetable cultivation.
In order to strengthen the initiative, the department has roped in the Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (IIHR) to support this project.
The key objective is to ensure availability of fresh fruits and vegetables to people, especially children and women, on a daily basis in the districts of Bidar, Gulbarga, Koppal, Yadgir, Raichur and Bellary.
At a two-day fair-cum-workshop on terrace gardening held on October 27 and 28, as part of the mela, considerable efforts to nurture a kitchen garden were offered by experts.
At the inaugural event, Supreme Court judge V S Gopala Gowda said that farmers would have got better prices for their produce if the governments had implemented the Crop Pattern Act 1964 that provided for regulating crops to be grown in different areas depending upon the needs and availability of resources. A crop regulation mechanism was in vogue in China.
He urged people, especially those in the urban areas, to be aware that farmers were not getting remunerative prices for their crops. “There is need to eliminate the role of middlemen in agricultural markets,” he said.
According to Dr K Narayana Gowda, VC, UAS, efforts to start terrace gardens should be a priority of households. The event is held for the first time in the country to encourage people in urban areas to grow vegetables, fruits and mushrooms on their residential premises through terrace gardening and other methods to ensure availability of nutritious and fresh vegetables and also to fight food shortage. Apiary and fish-rearing are part of the garden package proposed under urban horticulture.
The urban horticulture event witnessed an estimated 1.20 lakh people visiting on the first day and there was a sale which generated Rs 10 lakh worth of planting material, according to C Vasudevappa, dean (post graduate studies), and mela chief co-ordinator, UAS.
About 120 stalls were set up at the event to sell plant material and seedlings of vegetables and flowers besides garden tools and related material. Novel technologies like vertical gardening and wall gardening were displayed particularly for high-rise homes.
In tune with the water conservation concept, the event highlighted waterproof plastic sacks that proved to be ideal as pots and drip irrigation system in terrace gardening. Further, there were also trays containing 50 plants of common vegetables.
“Urban horticulture will not only ensure availability of high-value vegetables but also help tackle the problem of solid waste disposal as residents are encouraged to turn their daily wet garbage into vermi-compost for their plants,” said Dr Gowda.
“UAS is now working to make urban horticulture a sustainable initiative. In this regard, it is encouraging residents’ welfare associations to take up production of quality seeds and plants,” stated the UAS VC.
“We need to ensure that all households take up kitchen gardening either on the ground floor or on terraces to have access to fresh vegetables and fruits. This is on lines similar to Chinese concept where every household has vegetable-fruit garden,” said M K Shankaralinge Gowda, principal secretary, department of horticulture, Government of Karnataka.
Now the state department of horticulture is all set to launch a project aimed at promoting kitchen gardens at the household level, urban horticulture on the premises of schools and anganwadis, and community gardens with a focus on vegetable cultivation.
In order to strengthen the initiative, the department has roped in the Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (IIHR) to support this project.
The key objective is to ensure availability of fresh fruits and vegetables to people, especially children and women, on a daily basis in the districts of Bidar, Gulbarga, Koppal, Yadgir, Raichur and Bellary.
At a two-day fair-cum-workshop on terrace gardening held on October 27 and 28, as part of the mela, considerable efforts to nurture a kitchen garden were offered by experts.
At the inaugural event, Supreme Court judge V S Gopala Gowda said that farmers would have got better prices for their produce if the governments had implemented the Crop Pattern Act 1964 that provided for regulating crops to be grown in different areas depending upon the needs and availability of resources. A crop regulation mechanism was in vogue in China.
He urged people, especially those in the urban areas, to be aware that farmers were not getting remunerative prices for their crops. “There is need to eliminate the role of middlemen in agricultural markets,” he said.
According to Dr K Narayana Gowda, VC, UAS, efforts to start terrace gardens should be a priority of households. The event is held for the first time in the country to encourage people in urban areas to grow vegetables, fruits and mushrooms on their residential premises through terrace gardening and other methods to ensure availability of nutritious and fresh vegetables and also to fight food shortage. Apiary and fish-rearing are part of the garden package proposed under urban horticulture.
The urban horticulture event witnessed an estimated 1.20 lakh people visiting on the first day and there was a sale which generated Rs 10 lakh worth of planting material, according to C Vasudevappa, dean (post graduate studies), and mela chief co-ordinator, UAS.
About 120 stalls were set up at the event to sell plant material and seedlings of vegetables and flowers besides garden tools and related material. Novel technologies like vertical gardening and wall gardening were displayed particularly for high-rise homes.
In tune with the water conservation concept, the event highlighted waterproof plastic sacks that proved to be ideal as pots and drip irrigation system in terrace gardening. Further, there were also trays containing 50 plants of common vegetables.
“Urban horticulture will not only ensure availability of high-value vegetables but also help tackle the problem of solid waste disposal as residents are encouraged to turn their daily wet garbage into vermi-compost for their plants,” said Dr Gowda.
“UAS is now working to make urban horticulture a sustainable initiative. In this regard, it is encouraging residents’ welfare associations to take up production of quality seeds and plants,” stated the UAS VC.
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