Kitchen gardening catches residents’ fancy

Jalandhar, November 18

With an aim to encouraging kitchen gardening, the Horticulture Department has been developing seed kits which contain seeds of nine varieties of vegetables for the winter season. This time too, the department distributed around 60,000 kits to residents pan Punjab. In Jalandhar, more than 3000 residents brought the kits; in Kapurthala, 2,400 purchased them. People have become health conscious and adulteration in food items is prompting them to change the lifestyle and grow their own vegetables and fruits.

Radish, carrot, turnip, methi, spinach, coriander, broccoli, Chinese cabbage and black carrot are the varieties that have been provided by the department in the kits. The cost of a kit is only Rs 80. For the past some years, these kits have become a hit among the residents.

Around four years ago, the department had come up with an informative pamphlet or handbook, ‘Vegetable Nutrition and Herbal Garden,’ written by Deputy Director

Horticulture, Kapurthala, Sukhdip Singh Hundal. The pamphlet has been widely appreciated by people.

Due to excessive use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides and sprays by farmers to get maximum yield, consumers are worried about poisonous food, especially vegetables. To give answer to the question of how to get out of this situation and to get nutritious vegetables, an eight-page pamphlet had been prepared, giving details on how to produce vegetables in the kitchen garden and small landholdings.

The pamphlet explained that for a family of four persons, fresh vegetables for a year could be grown on a plot of 75 sq m or 3 marlas only.

Around 450 kg of vegetables are normally required by a family in a year and 24 types of winter and summer vegetables and 10 herbs can be easily produced on such a small chunk of land.

Hundal said, “There is a great awareness among people now. I guide them on kitchen gardening.”

Big returns from small chunk of land

• For a family of four persons, fresh vegetables for a year could be grown on a plot of 75 sq m or 3 marlas only.
• Around 450 kg of vegetables are normally required by a family in a year and 24 types of winter and summer vegetables and 10 herbs can be easily produced on such a small chunk of land.