Farzana Chowdhury has built an eye-catching rooftop garden at her home in Ashulia, Savar. The idea of a rooftop garden first came to her as a hobby, but she started it to help protect the balance of the environment and reduce the effects of global warming.

Farzana Chowdhury said that this small-scale garden not only gives peace of mind but also feeds various animals and birds, and that a clean rooftop garden greatly enhances the beauty of a house. Her garden has a variety of fruit, flowers, grasses, leafy greens, vegetables and medicinal plants.

A walk around the garden shows fruit including banana, pomegranate, bangi melon, pineapple, watermelon, lemon, mango, guava and jujube. Leafy greens include water spinach, note shak, data shak, bottle gourd leaves, pumpkin leaves, drumstick leaves, brahmi and Malabar spinach. Vegetables include sponge gourd, cucumber, aubergine, tomato, bottle gourd, pumpkin, bitter gourd, bilati uchchhe, drumsticks, stem amaranth, papaya, beans, ridge gourd and sweet potato.

Spices include onion, chilli (hill chilli and Naga chilli), turmeric, ginger and groundnut. Flowers include red hibiscus, periwinkle, kamini, gardenia, ixora, white dronapushpi and blue hurhure. Medicinal plants include neem, telakucha, kalokeshi, kukshim, henna and dudhia, and among the grasses are nutgrass, durba grass and cactus.

Farzana Chowdhury said: "To look after the rooftop garden, the plants are watered every morning and evening. A fungicide is used to get rid of fungal infections and pests, and organic fertiliser for the plants' nutrition."

She said: "Beyond protecting the balance of the environment, the joy of eating pure fruit and vegetables cannot be put into words. With the market flooded with artificial and chemical products, eating what you grow with your own hands is far more rewarding."

Everyone in the family helps look after the garden, Farzana said. "My mother in particular looks after the garden when I am away."

Farzana believes rooftop gardens are very important for people in the capital, as a special initiative to make up for the shortfall in oxygen as carbon dioxide levels rise.

She also believes there is no alternative to rooftop gardens for protecting the balance of the environment and ensuring pure food. "In future I want to expand my rooftop farming further, so that others are inspired," she said.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.