Vol. 11, Special Issue 5 (2022)

Author(s):
Dr. Santosh Jhajharia, Dr. Kuldeep Singh Brar, Mahavir Prasad Kaswan and Pardeep kumar

Abstract:
Despite of sufficient food grain production at national level, malnutrition is still a public health concern in our country. India is also one of the leading nations in vegetable production but the problem of malnutrition especially the micronutrient deficiencies are very common among the rural households. The underlying cause may be the unawareness, illiteracy, inadequate availability of vegetables and fruits and low purchasing power of the households. As per Recommended Dietary Allowances, daily intake of vegetables should be 300 gm/person including roots and tubers, green leafy and other vegetables. Keeping into consideration the high prevalence of malnutrition especially micronutrient deficiencies and inadequate availability of vegetables, Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Hanumangarh I, Rajasthan has carried out 150 demonstrations using 1.90 ha area from the year 2016 to 2021 on nutritional kitchen gardening. Prior to this, a total of eight training programmes were conducted including 218 participants on importance and establishment of nutrition kitchen garden in the same villages. The major objective was to improve the availability of vegetables and nutrient intake at household level and to improve the knowledge of rural women regarding various technological aspects of kitchen gardening and its importance. For the conduction of demonstrations, families of 4-6 members were selected purposively. An area of 150m2 was taken to establish kitchen garden for each family. A questionnaire was used to assess the pre and post training knowledge of participants regarding various aspects of kitchen gardening. The result of the study showed an improvement in availability of vegetables for consumption at both household and individual level. The average per capita availability of vegetables increase d from 172 to 278 gm/day. The knowledge level of beneficiaries has also been improved through training programmes.