Kitchen gardening-a way amidst COVID-19 pandemic

Esther Lalruatsangi
The second surge of the Covid-19 pandemic has been more devastating than the first with a huge number of death every day. The different States of India are taking various measures to slow the spread of the virus by imposing lockdown and curfew to ease pressure on the healthcare infrastructure. On the contrary, the Covid-19 restrictions have imposed a serious challenge on farmers of the country as it has limited access to tending of farms and unavailability of agricultural inputs such as seeds, fertilizers, etc especially during planting season and selling of harvested produce as well.
It is a well known fact that fruits and vegetables are important component of a healthy diet as they prove to be a rich source of vitamins and minerals. But due to continous lockdown and restriction, getting fresh fruits and vegetables is becoming more and more difficult day by day. So, the question has arisen whether there will be sufficient food for everyone if lockdown continues as situation could worsen due to the unpredictable future.
During the first wave of the pandemic, people spent more time at home due to total lockdown and many realized the importance of fruits and vegetables in our diet while the scarcity of getting fresh ones has led us to take up the habit of gardening. As witnessed in social networking sites, kitchen gardening has been practiced by many including those living in urban areas as it not only satisfies family needs but is also a stress reliever as reported by the practitioner.
In simple words, Kitchen garden is growing of fruits and vegetables at the backyard of our house for household needs. It is also known as Home garden or Nutrition garden or Potager. To ensure healthy diet of our body to fight against the Covid-19, daily consumption of nutritious fruits and vegetables is suggested. The choice of the horticultural crops to be grown has to be taken into consideration by growing highly nutritious fruits and vegetables which are rich in vitamins and minerals to satisfy the nutritional needs of the human body.
The practice of kitchen gardening is encouraged by growing highly nutritious vegetables like peas, cowpeas and beans which are rich in protein; tapioca and garlic having high calorific value; spinach and amaranthus rich in potassium; gourds, lettuce and okra/bhindi rich in vitamin A and C; tomato having high antioxidant properties, roselle effective for diabetic treatment; potato having high fibre content; chillies rich in vitamin B1, vitamin C and fibre; tapioca, potato and sweet potato rich in carbohydrates. Growing of short duration fruit crops which can be easily propagated and does not require large area for cultivation like papaya (rich in Vitamin A), passion fruit (rich in Vitamin A and C), banana (high calorific value) and dragonfruit (rich in antioxidant) in our backyard is also possible to ensure the nutritional needs of our body.
The writer is Assistant Professor (Fruit science), College of Horticulture, Thenzawl, Mizoram
Central Agricultural University – Imphal
For further details contact
Public Relation & Media Management Cell, CAU,  Imphal. Email: [email protected]