About four months ago, when Shobha Jadhav, a home-maker, took up kitchen gardening, little did she know that her initiative would help her not only save money but also provide fresh vegetables for daily consumption.
Ms. Shobha, who is the wife of a government employee, has used the terrace of their rented house, built on 30x40 sq. ft. site, for developing a kitchen garden.
“Today, I am getting vegetables like tomato, brinjal, capsicum, spinach, ladies’ finger, green chilli, palak and coriander daily. Besides this I also have cultivated some flowers in plastic bags and pots,” she said while plucking tomatoes from one of the plants.
She claimed that while she was spending around Rs. 1,500 a month on vegetables, the expenditure has comedown to only 40 per cent of that amount now.
“The best part is that we need not to keep the vegetables in the refrigerator as we can directly pluck fresh vegetables every day,” she said.
Ms. Jadhav said that there initial investment was only around Rs. 2,000, while seeds and organic manure was supplied by the Department of Horticulture which is promoting kitchen gardening in urban and semi-urban areas. She said that everyday, she spends around an hour in watering the plants and removing weeds.
C.B. Patil, Senior Assistant Director of Horticulture Department, told The Hindu that with an objective of popularising kitchen /terrace gardening and encouraging people to consume chemical-free and fresh vegetables, the government started this project last year.
“We are getting an overwhelming response for the project. The number of beneficiaries are exceeding the target we were given,” he said.
He said that while the government had set target of giving seed packets and grow bags to 500 persons, nearly 800 persons have applied for the kits.
“With the demand increasing, we have asked the department to increase the target to meet the growing demand,” he said.
