HOME GARDENS PROVIDE NUTRITIOUS VEGETABLES AND FRUITS HELP ALLEVIATING MALNUTRITION IN RURAL INDIA

1. Alleviating Poverty and Malnutrition in Agrobiodiversity Hotspots
Approach
• Awareness education/
training to Men & Women
• Training programme on
Family nutrition/ Nutritional
Disorders, Fruits and
Vegetable processing
• Establishing Structured /
Unstructured Home
Gardens
• Cooking Demonstrations
• Children Nutrition Clubs
- Participatory Rural
Appraisal
- Focus Group
Discussions
- Study on local food
habits, Local food
intake
- Anemic mothers,
women and girl
children focus

2. Alleviating Poverty and Malnutrition in Agrobiodiversity Hotspots
HOME GARDENS –
Horticultural Remedy for Nutritional Malady
WHY?
- Limited food diversity
- Limited knowledge on nutrition/
Health/ Sanitation
- Limited accessibility
- Barriers in decision making
- Limited ability to purchase
Vegetables
CONTEXT:
Under nutrition, anemia and protein
deficiency is prevalent among the
men, women and children of Kolli
hills, Tamil Nadu

3. Alleviating Poverty and Malnutrition in Agrobiodiversity Hotspots
Establishing Home Gardens- Process
Community Briefing/ Zone wise Household Meetings
Appropriate field identification and location
Layout planning and designing with individual HH
Family members Nutritional status observation before HG
Participatory selection of crops/ crop calendar setting
Implementation and periodical monitoring
Maintenance of Harvesting and Consumption records

4. Mainstream Vegetables : Tomato, Brinjal, Okra, Onion
Greens : Amaranthus (Red/green), Basella,
Spinach, Chekurmanis, Vallarai,
Pulichakeerai, coriander and mint
Roots & tubers : Radish, carrots, Beet roots, Orange
flesh sweet potato,colocasia
Cole crops : Cabbage, Cauliflower,Mustard
Legumes :Dolichos, clusterbeans, peas, native
black and red kidney beans,
cowpea, spring beans
Guards : Pumpkin, Ridge, bitter, bottle and
ash guards
Fruits/ perennials :
Papaya, Guava, Jack, Mango, Moringa, Curry leaves
Vegetables and Fruits of Kitchen Garden

5. Alleviating Poverty and Malnutrition in Agrobiodiversity Hotspots
Structured Garden Unstructured Garden
Home (Nutrition) Gardens
2m2
or 3 m2
plots with raised beds,
furrows/ ridges
vegetable plots of different size, grown in
cloth bags, pots etc
Have diversity- vegetables, native
greens, root crops, guards, legumes and
Fruit trees, all in one place.
Limited diversity – either greens and guards or
legumes and greens or fruit trees and greens
located in different places
Crop calendar practiced; vegetables
grown both in Rabi and Kharif.
Vegetables grown only in one season –
Kharif/ early Rabi.
Easy to access for cooking Often grown in cropped areas as inter crop
Periodic harvest, consumption and
processed records of veg. monitored.
Consumption information alone could be
recorded.

6. Plot
No.
Crop Period
1 Tomato
Radish
Cowpea/ Beans
Okra
Jan – Mar
Apr – May
Jun – Sep
Oct – Dec
2 Okra
Radish
Chilies
Onion
Cabbage/ Beet
Jan- Apr
May – Jun
Jun – Oct
Jun – Oct ( intercrop)
Nov – Jan
3 Greens
Tomato
Onion
Beetroot/ Radish
Dec – Feb
Mar – Jun
Jul – Sep
Oct – Nov
4 Cluster beans
Greens
Brinjal
Jan – Apr
Apr – May
Jun – Dec
5 Dolichos/ Fr.Bean
Onion
Tomato
Greens
Dec – Jan
Feb – May
May – Aug
Sep – Nov
6 Okra
Brinjal
Cauliflower/ Beans
Feb – May
Jun – Oct
Oct – Jan
7 Cluster bean
Okra
Tomato
Apr – Aug
Dec – Jan
Aug – Nov
8 Cabbage/ Beans
Radish
Tomato
Chillies
Dec – Feb
Mar – Apr
Nov – Feb
May – Nov
HOME GARDEN - LAYOUT
Compost Pits Fruit trees
Alleviating Poverty and Malnutrition in Agrobiodiversity Hotspots
CROP CALENDER
Gourds not included – supplement

7. Alleviating Poverty and Malnutrition in Agrobiodiversity Hotspots
Home Gardens of Tribal Families
1 cent Model 2 cents model

8. Alleviating Poverty and Malnutrition in Agrobiodiversity Hotspots
Promotion of Orange Flesh Sweet potato

9. Alleviating Poverty and Malnutrition in Agrobiodiversity Hotspots
Papaya – Red Lady Guava- Lucknow 49 Moringa – PKM-1

10. Alleviating Poverty and Malnutrition in Agrobiodiversity Hotspots
Role
Activity Male Female Both
Field Preparation √
Fencing √
Beds/ pandal formation √ √
Selection of veg.var √
Seed sowing √
Nursery raising √
Watering/ care √
Plant protection √
Cropping calendar √
Harvesting √
Record keeping √
consumption √
Sharing with neighbors √
Gender Role in Kitchen Garden Management and use

11. Alleviating Poverty and Malnutrition in Agrobiodiversity Hotspots
Constraints in Managing Home Gardens
•Problems with Hens, domestic animals damaging
seed beds, nursery and seedlings
•Fetching water during summer is challenging for
women, minimum requirement of 30 lt/ day/cent
•Poor knowledge on : nutrition, nutrition values of
local / wild fruits, vegetables and root crops, food
taboos, post harvest processing, water conservation
methods, organic pest/ disease control measures

12. Alleviating Poverty and Malnutrition in Agrobiodiversity Hotspots
How the project has handled
Hen and domestic
animal’s disturbance
Fetching water and
irrigating plants
during summer
(Jan – may)
Knowledge on Home
garden/ Pest
Management
Green shade net was provided for
fencing after Focus Group
Discussion with women.
Stored water made available to
plants by drip method, easy water
carrying devices, promotion of
Mulching, promoting low water
loving plants/ Gourds in summer.
Awareness programs, school
children club, Training and
demonstration on Good Home
garden management, organic plant
protection measures and healthy diet