Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 150
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 151
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Warning (512): Unable to emit headers. Headers sent in file=/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php line=853 [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 48]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 148]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 181]
Food and Nutrition Security/ Mid Day Meal Scheme/ ICDS/ PDS | Homegrown veggies keep village women healthy -Snehlata Shrivastav

Homegrown veggies keep village women healthy -Snehlata Shrivastav

Share this article Share this article
published Published on Mar 27, 2015   modified Modified on Mar 27, 2015
-The Times of India

NAGPUR: Almost 50% of women in Borgaon Gondi, a tribal village in Wardha district, are anaemic. This is not because of poverty or non-availability of nutritious food. Most farmers in the village own 2-5 acres land except a few who own above 50 acres. It is sheer ignorance about what to eat and the general neglect of women and children that are the main causes.

However, there is hope for them. Interventions by M S Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) from Chennai, which has been working in Vidarbha for past 8-10 years, mean that two years from now Borgaon and four other villages the foundation is associated would have women and children with normal haemoglobin levels. They would also be more prosperous and educated (aware) villages.

Villager Nanda Dadarao Kumre, 47, said she and 25 other families were growing vegetables in their backyards and didn't need to buy any. "I don't understand what anaemic means but I am happy that they say eating fresh leafy vegetables will not make us feel as weak as we would earlier," she said. Nanda's 24-year-old son Sudhir (XII pass) now has a job as a field assistant with the MSSRF and is in-charge of the community nutrition garden. He is happy he could get good employment in the village itself that has allowed him to maintain his bond with agriculture.

Village women who work in community garden of the village are happy that besides produce from their own kitchen gardens they also get their share of fruits and vegetables from here. "The concept of vegetable cultivation is not new, but we never knew what vegetables should be grown and there importance. With MSSRF intervention we are more aware now. We produced enough to sell some of it and have some money for the women," said Kalpana Madavi, another woman associated with the project.

Sangeetha Rajeesh, the research uptake manager and communications specialist of MSSRF, said that the foundation was providing free seeds and saplings to the farmers in five villages Saheli, Susund, Vitpurand Heti besides Borgaon, for both kitchen and community gardens as well as for general agriculture. "We have an agriculture scientist and a nutrition scientist to guide them," she said.

Mahesh Maske, the agriculture scientist, clarified they try to avoid giving any hybrid seeds for two reasons. One, the farmers could produce their own seeds and the other that it helped them conserve local varieties of not just food crops but also commercial crops like cotton. The project also advises crops based on soil suitability. "We are promoting a mixture of crops that can provide a balanced diet and essential nutrients to children and women in particular," said Rupal Wagh, the nutrition scientist.

Three major projects in Wardha district

LANSA- Leveraging Agriculture for Nutrition in South Asia- is being implemented in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan and is financially supported by the UK department of international development (DFID) and Lansa consortium partners from UK, USA and South Asia

FSN - Farming System for Nutrition- is being implemented in 658 households in Koraput district in Odisha and 556 households in Wardha. It includes both crop pattern (biofortified crops and pulses) and varieties intervention as well as promoting community nutrition gardening that includes fruits like papaya, guava, mango etc, drum sticks, curry tree, vegetables from leafy vegetables like spinach, fenugreek, coriander, roots and tubers like carrot, radish, beetroot and other vegetables like brinjal, tomato, cauliflower

VKC - Village Knowledge Centre - where farmers have access to information about various crops, cultivation practices, weather and print news. Foundation started a VKC in Saheli village in Wardha district about three months back

(The trip was organized by MSSRF)

The Times of India, 26 March, 2015, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/nagpur/Homegrown-v
eggies-keep-village-women-healthy/articleshow/46694332.cms


The Times of India, 26 March, 2015, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/nagpur/Homegrown-veggies-keep-village-women-healthy/articleshow/46694332.cms


Related Articles

 

Write Comments

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

Video Archives

Archives

share on Facebook
Twitter
RSS
Feedback
Read Later

Contact Form

Please enter security code
      Close