Urban farming boosts nutritional security
It is time we graduated from food security to nutritional security. Fruits and vegetables can be grown by individuals to supplement nutritional needs. There is something known as hidden hunger. You might be getting enough food, but the nutrients that your body needs might be absent from your food. Your food might not have sufficient iron, protein or zinc content. This is where rooftop and homestead kitchen gardens can be useful.
Urban as well as periurban agriculture can help achieve nutritional security, even as one agrees that food security needs to come from villages. Conventional agriculture needs to continue, but urban agriculture can supplement nutrients.
Rooftop farming can be taken up as a hobby or as a method to supplement the protein needs of children at home. But special emphasis needs to be laid on periurban agriculture. There is a lot of unused land surrounding cities, which can be used to cultivate onions and tomatoes.
Since their prices fluctuate, supply from periurban areas can stabilise prices. This can also ensure yearround supply.
Today, onions from Pune and Nasik feed Delhi while the land surrounding the city, mostly owned by rich people, is used to grow flowers. There has to be a change in land- use planning. Legislators and policymakers must intervene so that there is a change in the use of periurban areas.
Rooftop gardens and periurban farmlands are very distinct from each other. Crops are grown on soil in periurban agriculture. Every inch of space and every drop of water need to be utilised. How you use it depends on the needs of the people. If there is a problem of poor nourishment, the land should be used for nutritional security.
There is a small space at my home where my wife takes care of a drumstick tree. Women are custodians of periurban horticulture. In urban settings, you can plant many varieties which grow without any difficulty. Amaranthus, annual variety of drumstick, tamarind and salad vegetables can be grown on rooftops.
The Chinese have brought out dwarf varieties of wheat, rice, maize, oranges and mangoes. These are varieties with dwarf genes and can be incorporated into your rooftop farming plan.
Can organic farming be useful in urban agriculture? Yes, it is feasible, as long as you have your own cows and buffaloes. Else manure costs are high. You can even get high productivity from organic farming, if you use good organic manure. Urban compost can be prepared from various organic matter. Cow dung and urine can be recycled into soil. Crop and animal husbandry can go hand in hand.
Urban and periurban agriculture can make use of hi- tech support. You need to maximise yield per unit of land as well as per unit of water. Drip irrigation and poly- house farming can be explored with the help of experts. In periurban agriculture you can combine horticulture with aquaculture.
Climate change is a complex issue and it is caused primarily by emissions. One cannot say whether chemical fertilisers caused it because it cannot be simplified in that manner. But in order to mitigate the effects of climate change, one can go for an organic fertiliser like bean decoction, which is also a good pesticide. Tobacco decoction can also be used.
GROWING FOOD PLANTS IN BUILDINGS AND ON TERRACES COMPLEMENTS FOOD SECURITY. KEEPING IT GREEN IS VIABLE IF ONE CAN ENSURE BIO- MANURE. BUT THE LARGER BENEFIT STEMS FROM PERIURBAN FARMING.