Bhubaneswar, Aug. 27: The State Kitchen Gardeners' Association has joined hands with the state government to offer a skill+development course on agribusiness.
The 40-day course aims to train the youths in civic responsibility, entrepreneurship, business productivity and personal development apart from leadership skills.
"Agricultural products are highly consumed commodities and we cannot just be subsistence farmers. Apart from producing the commodities, we need to go to the markets to generate business out of it," said Maheshwar Khillar, the man behind the rooftop kitchen garden movement in the city and a member of the association.
The course will start shortly for school students.
"Many youngsters are unemployed. When you have young energetic minds that have no significant direction, they are bound to put their energy to unworthy ventures. Such initiatives will provide them a pathway for livelihood opportunities," Khillar said.
On the occasion of World Kitchen Garden Day today, members of the association organised a special meet to create awareness in people about the benefits of kitchen gardening. People shared their experiences and problems faced during implementation of urban farming at the meet, which were addressed by the experts and academics in the field
Akanksha Mohapatra, a homemaker in Rasulgarh, shared her experience of producing leafy vegetables, green banana and betel leaf in her kitchen garden with others during the meet at the state quality control laboratory of the agriculture department.
Khillar says space is not a constraint for people who love farming, as there are alternatives to grow organic food in their homes. "Many are using their windowsills to grow vegetables. Even use of plastic bottles, buckets and bathtubs has become popular."
Since 2004, the Kitchen Gardeners' International (a non-profit organisation) celebrates World Kitchen Garden Day on the fourth Sunday of August to create awareness on the benefits of fresh food produced at home with the use of locally available organic resources.
