HOME GARDENS: AN INTERVENTION FOR IMPROVED HEALTH AND NUTRITION IN SELECTED STATES OF INDIA

The global population today is estimated to be about 6.8 billion and on its current growth trajectory, the population is expected to reach nearly 9 billion by 2042. Imbalanced diets lead to the death of millions of people each year and are an alarming problem in developing countries where micronutrient malnutrition is chronic and debilitating.
Undernourishment, inadequate consumption of protein and energy as well as deficiencies in key micronutrients such as iodine, vitamin A and iron are key factors in the morbidity and mortality of children and adults in India.
Though vegetables are recognized as the most important source of these micronutrients, yet the per capita vegetable consumption in India (86 g/day) is far below the FAO’s recommended (200 g/day). Recognizing the importance of nutrition, AVRDC-The World Vegetable Center has developed home garden packages as part of a project being implemented in Jharkhand and Punjab with grant from Sir Ratan Tata Trust (SRTT), to provide poor households with a balanced source of nutrition from year-round production of safe vegetables.
The current paper highlights three home garden models – for Punjab, Jharkhand and Andhra Pradesh, developed and being validated in terms of their crop sequences, yield and nutritional output.
Each home garden is of 6×6 m2 plot area with 5 main plots further divided into 13-15 sub-plots.
Data analysis from August’08 till date for the evaluation trials conducted showed yields in the range of 185.70 to 345.21 kg for these models.
The nutrient yield details showed that Andhra Pradesh, Punjab and Jharkhand models met more than 100% of β-carotene and vitamin C requirements for a 4-member family.
However, the protein and iron requirements met by these models were low.
These models have been promoted through more than 200 field demonstrations and distribution of healthy diet garden kits to further scale up home gardening amongst thousands of farmers.

XXVIII International Horticultural Congress on Science and Horticulture for People (IHC2010): International Symposium on Advances in Ornamentals, Landscape and Urban Horticulture

M.L. Chadha, R. Yang, S.K. Sain, C. Triveni, R. Pal, M. Ravishankar, T.R. Ghai

homegardening, nutritional yield, vitamin A, vegetables

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2012.937.130