Now grow vegetables and fruits at home! 75000 Agri Nutri Gardens established; check details

In a significant achievement towards making the reach of nutrition easier to rural households, the government led Deendayal Antyodaya  Yojana successfully celebrated the Agri Nutri Garden Week. The initiative led to the establishment of more than 75000 Agri Nutri Gardens across several households in different parts of the country, the Ministry of Rural Development said in a press release. The Agri Nutri Garden Week was celebrated between January 10th and January 17th under the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihood Mission DAY-NRLM. As part of the celebration, an awareness campaign was run in different parts of the country to establish the Agri Nutri Garden which could not only fulfill the nutrition needs of the family but also become their source of income.

In contrast to the meager target of 7500 Agri Nutri Gardens, a total of 76,664 nutri gardens were established during the Agri Nutri Week, the Ministry said highlighting the overwhelming response towards the initiative. So far, a total of 78 lakh Agri Nutri Gardens have been established in the country under the National Rural Livelihood Mission to boost the rural economy, augment the nutritional needs and provide an additional source of income to agricultural households.

On January 13th, the Ministry of Rural Development-led DAY NRLM also organised a webinar which saw the participation of more than 2000 women farmers who have established Agri Nutri Gardens. The officials who organised the webinar urged women farmers to saturate every household in the country with an Agri Nutri Garden to ensure the easy availability of vegetables, fruits for nutritional requirements and an additional source of income.

A number of women farmers who participated in the webinar said that Agri Nutri Garden had brought a big change in their lives as the home-grown vegetables and fruits not only provided them nutrition but also helped them save on their medical expenses. The women participants explained that due to the availability of chemical and fertiliser free vegetables and fruits grown in their own Agri Nutri Garden, fewer people were falling sick than before which in return is helping in medical expenses. More than 2000 women had participated in the online webinar from more than 700 locations crisscrossing the country.