MAPUSA
Latching on the opportunity provided by the Covid pandemic and the interest generated among the public in kitchen gardening, the directorate of agriculture recently launched a unique urban organic vegetable gardening programme in Mapusa which has generated huge interest among the people in Bardez.
The focus of the programme was to involve people from the urban areas particularly those living in flats and housing societies to grow their own vegetables. The agriculture department through its zonal agriculture office will provide seeds/seedlings, containers and even soil to encourage people to take up vegetable gardening for self-sustenance.
Importantly, the department through its ZAO has also launched training programmes for people who are interested in starting vegetable gardening at their homes and premises.
The Bardez Zonal Agriculture Officer Sampatthi Dhargalkar informed that the Mapusa ZAO office has successfully conducted a two-day training programme on urban vegetable gardening for people of Bardez some days ago.
“We are planning to conduct more such training programmes in future as there was a demand from the general public,” Dhargalkar said.
The directorate of agriculture had recently launched the urban organic vegetable gardening programme with much fanfare at the zonal agriculture office in Mapusa.
“We will take the concept of urban vegetable gardening in every municipal area to make people aware of growing chemical-free and good yield of vegetables at home,” Neville Alphonso, Director of Agriculture, had said.
“Under this programme, people can take up cultivation of vegetables in whatever available spaces in their premises. This way they can contribute to the environment and consume healthy food.”
