The Women Entrepreneurs Association of Tamil Nadu (WEAT) here received a good response from women for its training programme on terrace gardening recently.
Participants understood the nuances of terrace gardening and the skills required for making it a gainful vocation.
P. Ramadas, a resource person, explained the procedure to be adopted for preparing the terrace for setting up the garden.
A minimum of 400 sq. ft. area was needed for developing the garden. Red loam soil was ideal for raising the garden as it would retain moisture and withstand heat.
Vegetables and flowers could be raised.
He explained the method for proper selection of seeds and the procedure for setting up “pandals” for raising creepers.
N. Manimekalai, Director of Centre for Women’s Studies, Bharathidasan University, said with the construction of apartments throughout the city, the scope for promoting terrace garden was good in the city.
She suggested special training programme could be organised for women residents of apartments to enable them to derive benefits of terrace garden.
Members of self-help groups should be trained so that they could guide the residents of the apartments in setting up the terrace garden. Considerable water was being lost and WEAT should address the issue of optimum utilisation of sewage water by setting up backyard gardens.
P. Malliga, Professor of National Facility for Marine Cyanobacteria, spoke on the steps to be followed for using coir pith and other manures, including “jeevamirtham”. She spoke on the efficacy of bio manures in checking the problems caused by pest.
P. Geetha Chandran, district secretary, and M. Malliga, State secretary of WEAT, said training was aimed at tapping women’s potential.
