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India: Hyderabad holds lessons: How to grow your food in your home garden

V S Kumar (left) Naresh R (right), Rythu Mitra Garden Center. Pic: Rythu Mitra

Telangana Horticulture Department, “Hyderabad rooftops have an area of 60,000 square metres approximately. If 50% of this area is converted into rooftop gardens, shortages and health issues can both be overcome.”

By Kolla Krishna Madhavi
Citizen Matters
Jan 12, 2021

Excerpt:

In a detailed project report of the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana, titled Raftar 2020, the Telangana Horticulture Department points out, “One third of the population of Telangana State stays in and around Hyderabad city, creating huge and continuous demand for supply of vegetables. Urbanization is one of the major constraints in expansion of the vegetable area.”

Urban gardening also seeks to minimize the carbon footprint associated with mass production, by localizing produce supply. It helps reduce the amount spent on purchasing vegetables and fruits and adds to the biodiversity by encouraging birds and insects to flourish. It can also nurture people’s social skills.

As per the Telangana Horticulture Department, “Hyderabad rooftops have an area of 60,000 square metres approximately. If 50% of this area is converted into rooftop gardens, shortages and health issues can both be overcome.”

According to a Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) report, urban garden land is 15 times more productive than the rural holdings. The study further noted that one square meter of urban farm is capable of producing 36 heads of lettuce every 60 days, 10 cabbages every 90 days and 100 onions every 120 days.

‘Green roofs’ is one of the key solutions to make urban settlements more sustainable. While reducing one’s isolation from nature, the COVID pandemic has highlighted its contribution to the food security of city dwellers.

Read the complete article here.