[ Pooja Singnale ]

The Anjaw Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) has been promoting nutritional kitchen gardening through frontline demonstrations in various villages across the district, with the aim of improving household nutrition, dietary diversity and food security among rural families.

The initiative is particularly important in Anjaw, where many villages are located in remote and difficult-to-reach areas, making regular access to fresh vegetables challenging. Nutritional kitchen gardens provide a practical solution by enabling families to grow a variety of vegetables in and around their homes, ensuring access to fresh and nutritious produce for household consumption.

Under the demonstrations, the KVK provided technical guidance on garden planning, selection of suitable vegetable crops, nursery raising, sowing and planting, nutrient management, irrigation, pest and disease management, and harvesting practices.

To support the establishment and maintenance of kitchen gardens, vegetable seeds and planting materials/saplings were provided by the KVK throughout the year, according to the seasonal suitability of different crops.

The demonstrations encouraged farmers and rural households to utilise available homestead spaces for vegetable cultivation and adopt diversified vegetable production.

The availability of home-grown vegetables not only helps meet household nutritional requirements but also reduces expenditure on purchasing vegetables and promotes self-reliance.

Through these frontline demonstrations, the KVK is creating awareness about the importance of nutritional kitchen gardens and encouraging rural families to adopt sustainable household-level vegetable production. The initiative is contributing towards nutritional security, household food security and improved dietary diversity among the farming communities in the remote villages of Anjaw district. (The contributor is subject matter specialist, home science, Anjaw KVK)