Tahmina Akter Runi of Kamar Pukur union in Saidpur has set up a family nutrition garden on one and a half decimals of her own land. After meeting her family's nutrition needs from the garden, she sells some of the vegetables at market, earning about Tk 3,000 a month.

Mohammad Ali of the same area has also made a family nutrition garden like Tahmina's. Besides feeding his family and selling at market, he gives vegetables to his neighbours. The money he used to spend every month buying vegetables is now all saved.

Tahmina and Mohammad Ali are not alone: with help from the agriculture department, 2,449 families in Nilphamari district have set up such family nutrition gardens. These gardens produce vegetables worth crores of taka every year, meeting nutrition needs while making the families more self-reliant.

According to the agriculture department, the government launched a nationwide project in 2020 for family nutrition gardens and ginger and turmeric cultivation, aimed at food security and meeting family nutrition needs. The government plans to set up 5 lakh nutrition gardens across the country, so that at least 5 lakh families can eat safe vegetables while saving a good deal of money.

The family gardens grow beans, chillies, leafy greens, bottle gourd, pumpkin, sweet potato, ginger and turmeric. Beneficiaries say each garden can produce more than about 200 kg of vegetables a year.

The agriculture department says these gardens can meet 3–40 per cent of nutrition needs and 4–32 per cent of protein needs. If a one-and-a-half-decimal garden produces 200 kg a year, the district's 2,449 gardens produce about 4 lakh 89 thousand 800 kg. At an average of Tk 30 a kg, that is worth Tk 1 crore 46 lakh 94 thousand, a large saving for the families covered by the government scheme.

Tahmina Akter Runi of Kamar Pukur union told Jagonews24 that her garden has red amaranth, Malabar spinach and taro leaves. "I eat them, give some to the neighbours and also sell them. I have sold aubergines and green chillies. I can sell Tk 2,500 worth of vegetables a month," she said.

Mohammad Ali of the same area told Jagonews24 that he used to have to buy Tk 2,000–3,000 worth of vegetables a month, but no longer does. "Now I get them from the garden and eat fresh food. We are doing well," he said.

Another grower, Abdur Rashid, told Jagonews24 that his nutrition garden now has stem amaranth, water spinach, red amaranth, beans and aubergines. "We eat the vegetables from the garden and give some to our neighbours," he said.

He added that such a garden does not need much land, and a lot of vegetables can be grown on a small plot. "I would urge everyone to make a safe vegetable garden like this," he said.

Dr SM Abu Bakar Saiful Islam, deputy director of the district Department of Agricultural Extension, told Jagonews24 that there are more than four thousand nutrition gardens in the district under the government project. After meeting their families' needs, many growers are also selling one to one and a half maunds of vegetables, and so are benefiting financially.

He said land that used to lie fallow is being brought under cultivation through the nutrition gardens, and that the government project is aimed at meeting nutrition needs. "Our target is to set up one thousand nutrition gardens in every union. We have already made four thousand," he said.

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