Vegetable Varieties for Urban Home garden

Abstract

Growing vegetables and fruits in urban home gardens is recognized for its potential role in increasing food and nutritional security, community resource development, waste management and environmental sustainability. A large part of the world population is living in urban areas. The rich social and economic variability of urban areas offers opportunities for innovative science, living condition improvements and agricultural and ecosystem management requiring novel policies, and action to promote harmony both between society and nature and between groups of people. Fruit and vegetable crops play a vital role in human diet as fresh food, sources of calories, vitamins, dietary fibre and nutraceuticals. India has a rich pool of genetic wealth of such crops which are suitable for urban cultivation, processing and value addition. Malnutrition and under-nutrition account for considerable ill-health among our population. Fruits and vegetables play an important role to make our food palatable, easily digestible, balanced and nutritive. Dieticians recommend consumption of 300gvegetables/capita/day and 65g fruits/capita/day to combat malnutrition. Fruits and vegetables grown in urban home or kitchen garden and container garden are fresh, safe, rich in nutrient and energy and superior in taste and quality in comparison to vegetables available in market for consumption. Kitchen gardening is the growing of fruits or vegetable crops in the residential houses to meet the requirements of the family all the year round. Every individual is concerned with home or kitchen garden. Irrespective of the fact whether the individual is a villager or a city dweller, kitchen garden should be a part of his home.