Plenty of enterprising city residents are turning horticulturists by setting up their own roof-top gardens in whatever little space is available.
From brinjal and tomatoes to ladies finger and snake-gourd, residents have been experimenting with terrace gardens in modest measures.
“Pest attacks are a problem,” says S. Coumar, a resident of Mahaveer Nagar, who has already grown 15 kg of ladies finger and five kg of brinjal. He now wants to try snake gourd on the trough he has laid on his terrace. However, like him, many residents have ventured into roof-top gardening without guidance or training.
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Now, for the first time, the horticulture division of the department of agriculture is hosting an orientation session on cultivating vegetables on roof-top/terrace gardens.
The programme scheduled at 2.30 p.m. on August 26 at the Mother Theresa Post Graduate and Research Institute of Health Sciences, Gorimedu, will initiate them on basic aspects of the practice.
Interested persons can visit the office of the Additional Director of Agriculture (Horticulture) at the Botanical garden or contact 2220130 or mail toadahorti.pon@nic.in
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“There is immense potential in roof-top urban gardens. We are aware of a growing public interest in organic farming and this programme is designed to help aspirants set up their own gardens,” said an Agriculture Department official.
The trend towards terrace gardens is also driven by the desire to eat healthy food, he pointed out.
The department is expecting around 300 to 500 participants. The department also proposes to extend subsidies for roof-top cultivation materials and plant products.
“We propose to distribute grow bags, inputs, soil mixture, seeds, seedlings and small tool kits at subsidised costs,” the official added.
Recently, an Aurovillian attempt at popularising the practice took the shape of a book, ‘My Pumpkin Roof: How to grow your own urban food garden’ which sought to impart the know-how of urban food farming, whether all the space one had was limited to a windowsill. Published by Auroville Consulting and Earthcare Books, the book was a collaborative effort by Nafeesa Usman, Urvashi Devidayal, Malvika Pathak and Martin Scherfler.
Horticulture division is hosting an orientation session on cultivating vegetables on roof-top/terrace on August 26