Urban agriculture, indoor agriculture, city farming, metropolitan agriculture and terrace gardening are the new buzzwords being heard today by the urban dwellers. It is a well-known fact that the world is undergoing climate change in many places as a result of which floods and droughts have become the recurring phenomena. Impacts of climate change on agriculture are now real and palpable. It is reported by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) that ‘global hunger may worsen in 2008 amid increasing food prices and reduced crop production in poor countries caused, partly, by drought and flood associated with climate change’. India, China, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of Korea, Indonesia and Philippines were witnesses to the floods, storms and droughts during 2006 as a result of climate change and the trend is likely continue in the future. According to UNO, the proportion of urban population rose to 47% in 2007 and is expected to touch a level of 60% by 2030. This would, no doubt, have a telling impact on the global warming and climate change. It is in this context, roof gardening, container gardening or terrace gardening has assumed added significance.
Terrace gardening refers to the cultivation of vegetables, fruit crops, flowers and medicinal plants on the terraces of dwelling houses, in pots, trays, cement boxes or containers. Any family having a terrace above their dwelling unit could undertake this activity for profit as well as pleasure. There are many terrace gardens in Bangalore in which different kinds of vegetables are raised in pots of 12” inner diameter, that meet the domestic needs of vegetables for the family throughout the year. This avoids the hassle of going to the market every day to fetch vegetables for cooking. Moreover, the vegetables that we buy from the market are grown around the city using pesticides, fungicides, inorganic fertilizers and water from the effluents containing toxic substances, which pose a serious health hazard to the people. It is now possible to raise quality vegetables using organic home wastes and converting them into compost with the help of earthworms. According to Dr B.N.Viswanath, author of “A Handbook of Organic Terrace Gardening”, producer of documentaries on agriculture, and a pioneer of terrace gardening in Bangalore, one can grow at least “six vegetables per season and can get an yield of about 10 kg per week which will be around 40 kg per month and 480 kg per year, provided he has a space of 600 sq.feet on the terrace”. He is being practical when he says it as he has been working in this field since 1994, and is now engaged in conducting training programmes/workshops for city-dwellers in and around Bangalore. It is heartening to note that he has trained and motivated more than 2000 housewives so far on terrace gardening, who are successfully practising terrace gardening now.
(Dr B.N.Viswanath conducting a workshop on Terrace Gardening at AME, Bangalore, on 7th June 2008)
There is a need to popularise terrace gardening in all cities across the country as it offers many benefits to its practioners like supply of chemical-free, fresh fruits and vegetables for the family, utilisation of household organic waste as manure, and reduction of pollution in the micro-climate, apart from providing all members of the family with a healthy hobby that promotes not only love of plants in them but also a general concern for the natural environment. Besides, such terrace gardens in big cities could help reduce global warming to certain extent. Adds Dr Viswanath, “Leafy vegetables like amaranthus, coriander, fenugreek, and Indian spinach, gourds like pumpkin, ash gourd, bitter gourd, ridge gourd, little gourd, cucumber, water melon, musk melon, root vegetables like radish, carrot, beetroot, onion, and garlic and many other vegetables like brinjal, bhendi, tomato, cabbage, cauliflower, capsicum, cluster bean, cowpea, French bean, peas, chillies, etc., could be successfully grown by the residents of Bangalore city”.
For free guidance, organising workshops on terrace gardening, information on inputs required for terrace gardening, etc., Dr B.N.Viswanath could be contacted on his mobile phone: +91-9845627217.
Terrace gardening refers to the cultivation of vegetables, fruit crops, flowers and medicinal plants on the terraces of dwelling houses, in pots, trays, cement boxes or containers. Any family having a terrace above their dwelling unit could undertake this activity for profit as well as pleasure. There are many terrace gardens in Bangalore in which different kinds of vegetables are raised in pots of 12” inner diameter, that meet the domestic needs of vegetables for the family throughout the year. This avoids the hassle of going to the market every day to fetch vegetables for cooking. Moreover, the vegetables that we buy from the market are grown around the city using pesticides, fungicides, inorganic fertilizers and water from the effluents containing toxic substances, which pose a serious health hazard to the people. It is now possible to raise quality vegetables using organic home wastes and converting them into compost with the help of earthworms. According to Dr B.N.Viswanath, author of “A Handbook of Organic Terrace Gardening”, producer of documentaries on agriculture, and a pioneer of terrace gardening in Bangalore, one can grow at least “six vegetables per season and can get an yield of about 10 kg per week which will be around 40 kg per month and 480 kg per year, provided he has a space of 600 sq.feet on the terrace”. He is being practical when he says it as he has been working in this field since 1994, and is now engaged in conducting training programmes/workshops for city-dwellers in and around Bangalore. It is heartening to note that he has trained and motivated more than 2000 housewives so far on terrace gardening, who are successfully practising terrace gardening now.
(Dr B.N.Viswanath conducting a workshop on Terrace Gardening at AME, Bangalore, on 7th June 2008)
There is a need to popularise terrace gardening in all cities across the country as it offers many benefits to its practioners like supply of chemical-free, fresh fruits and vegetables for the family, utilisation of household organic waste as manure, and reduction of pollution in the micro-climate, apart from providing all members of the family with a healthy hobby that promotes not only love of plants in them but also a general concern for the natural environment. Besides, such terrace gardens in big cities could help reduce global warming to certain extent. Adds Dr Viswanath, “Leafy vegetables like amaranthus, coriander, fenugreek, and Indian spinach, gourds like pumpkin, ash gourd, bitter gourd, ridge gourd, little gourd, cucumber, water melon, musk melon, root vegetables like radish, carrot, beetroot, onion, and garlic and many other vegetables like brinjal, bhendi, tomato, cabbage, cauliflower, capsicum, cluster bean, cowpea, French bean, peas, chillies, etc., could be successfully grown by the residents of Bangalore city”.
For free guidance, organising workshops on terrace gardening, information on inputs required for terrace gardening, etc., Dr B.N.Viswanath could be contacted on his mobile phone: +91-9845627217.
