Introduction:
Farming is under tremendous pressure to produce greater quantities of food, feed and biofuel on limited land resources for the growing population which is expected to reach over nine billion by 2050. Under these circumstances the developing countries where the pervasiveness of hunger and food scarcity is more acute, are resorting to various strategies to meet he growing demand and to avert food and nutrition insecurity. Majority of the hungry and malnourished people live in developing countries under sub-standard living conditions and more than half a billion of the global population suffer from chronic food insecurity. The National Health Survey (2005-06) says “India loses 2-3 percent of its GDP every year due to under nutrition among children in the age group of up to two years”. According to the report “Nutrition in India” even among wealthy only about 7 percent children between 6 and 24 months receive adequate feeding, health care and environmental health.
The FAO of the UN declared 2014 as year of family farming with the intention of making each family a farming unit to meet the nutritional requirement. The National Academy of Agricultural Sciences, New Delhi released two policy papers related to organic farming and a related approach to make homesteads self-sustainable. India enjoys temperate, sub-tropical and tropical climate along with arid climate and a longer coastal eco-system. India has the strength of biodiversity, traditional wisdom and adequate natural resources-soil, water and energy. Thus horticulture can provide remedy for every nutritional melody. Various horticultural crops are the reservoirs of much needed fiber, vitamins, minerals, anti-oxidants, lipids, flavorants, odorants and essential phyto-chemicals. The concept of kitchen gardening has been part of the agriculture and food production systems in many developing countries and are widely used as a remedy to alleviate hunger and malnutrition.
Kitchen Gardening:
Kitchen gardening is a small-scale production system and is marked by low capital input and simple technology. Generally, kitchen gardening refers to the cultivation of a small portion of land which may be around the household. These gardens are the highly mixed cropping system that encompasses vegetables, fruits, plantation crops, spices, and herbs, ornamental and medicinal plants.
Characteristics of Kitchen Garden:
The kitchen gardens are mainly characterized by (1) Their proximity to the residence (2) Possess a high diversity of various crop plants (3) The production is supplemental rather than a main source of family consumption and income (4) Usually occupy a small area (5) Do not require high investments (6) The specific size of a kitchen garden varies from household to household (7) New innovations and techniques have made kitchen gardening possible even for the families that have very little land (8) They may be delimited by physical demarcations such as live fences or hedges, fences, ditches or boundaries (9) Application of kitchen waste, available manure, and other organic residues has been a practice amongst kitchen gardeners who are more health conscious (10) Kitchen gardening has helped to considerably increase the productivity and fertility of these gardens and make a safe food production.
Benefits of kitchen gardening:
The sole objective of kitchen gardening is production of food for kitchen consumption which involve various types of staples, vegetables, fruits and medicinal crops. It involves the family labor and do not call for external hired labor. The labor requirements are part time and the family members can do the work at their leisure. The important benefits can be listed as (1) Assured food security for the family (2) Increased availability of food and better nutrition through diversified food (3) Income and enhanced employment through additional or off season production for the family members (4) Decreased risk through diversification (5) Environmental benefits from recycling water and waste nutrients, controlling shade, dust and erosion, and maintaining or increasing local biodiversity.
Improving health:
Plants are an important source of medicine for humans and livestock and crops. Herbs and medicinal plants grown in kitchen gardens are used for treating various illnesses, diseases, and also to improve their health conditions. Food insecurity and economic hardships force people to consume less and to settle for food that is of low nutritional quality. Adverse health effects due to inadequate intake of basic macronutrients are further compounded by deficiencies in micronutrients such as vitamins and minerals. Amongst them, vitamin A deficiency is a major health issue in many lowincome countries and poses serious health problems, particularly for pregnant women and their babies and growing children. The global incidence of anemia is primarily attributed to iron deficiency. Iron insufficiency
elevates the risk of mortality during pregnancy by 20 percent. Moreover, estimates suggest that nearly onethird of the global population live in countries with high zinc deficiency. Micronutrient deficiency can raise the vulnerability to other infectious diseases and the risks of mortality due to illnesses such as diarrhea, pneumonia, malaria, and measles. It may also lead to poor physical and cognitive development and impairment of motor skills in young children as well as other short-term and long-term health effects. In different contexts, kitchen gardening helps to address health issues resulting from malnutrition.
Improvement in the social status of women:
Though the women play a pivotal role in food production but at times their worth is somewhat undermined. They play a key role in kitchen gardening too. In most scenarios women’s contribution to household food production is immense, but this does not imply that kitchen gardening is predominantly a female activity. Participation of Women and shouldering of responsibilities in kitchen gardening mainly include land preparation, planting, weeding, harvesting, and marketing. In most of the cases women are the important sole caretakers of kitchen gardens. Kitchen gardens stimulate social change and development. Their labor is indispensable to maintain the garden and to help keep production cost low. As kitchen makers, women have useful knowledge of numerous domestic needs. By their involvement in the production process, they are able to meet family needs more easily and economically. Kitchen gardens provide a respectable path for women to contribute to
household subsistence, eminence, and character; they hold a greater socio-cultural and spiritual importance for women. Furthermore, they are a key source of gardening knowledge and information.
Economic benefits:
The economic benefits of kitchen gardens go beyond food and nutritional security and subsistence, especially for resource poor families as they contribute to income generation, improved livelihoods, and household economic welfare as well as promoting entrepreneurship and rural development. Kitchen gardens can contribute to household economic well-being. Although kitchen gardens are viewed as subsistence low production systems, they can be structured to be more efficient commercial enterprises by growing high-value crops and animal husbandry.
Environmental benefits:
Kitchen gardens provide multiple environmental and ecological benefits as they initiate and utilize ecologically friendly approaches for food production while conserving biodiversity and natural resources. Kitchen gardens contain a rich composition of plant and animal species and make interesting cases for ethnobotanical studies.The rich diversity and composition of species and the dense distribution of faunal and floral strata denote extraordinary features of kitchen garden ecology. Kitchen gardens also contain a wide spectrum of plant species, some of which are landraces, rare or threatened species, and specific cultivars selected for a set of desirable traits. Kitchen gardens also provide a number of ecosystem services.
Conclusions:
Promotion of kitchen gardens leads to eco-friendly sustainable practice to improve food security and
enhance economic growth. The structure, functions, and contributions of kitchen gardens vary in geographic regions. The kitchen gardens fulfill social, cultural and economic needs, while providing a number of ecosystem services. In the real world, there is substantial overlap and dependence between the various beneficial elements resulting in several advantages making kitchen gardening initiatives more attractive. In the wake of a global food crisis and the soaring food prices, there has been increased emphasis on enhancing and building local food systems. In this context, there is renewed attention to food production and livelihood enhancement through kitchen gardens. There is also a need for research on the cost-benefit analysis of kitchen gardening to determine the economic value and to derive viable models that hold the most promise in diverse circumstances. Several corporate companies can support initiatives in the rural and urban dwellings and schools.
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