Horticulture Department sets up shared kitchen garden for tribal communities in Anaipallam in the Nilgiris

Horticulture Department sets up shared kitchen garden for tribal communities in Anaipallam in the Nilgiris

The Department of Horticulture and Plantation Crops has helped tribal communities in Anaipallam near Coonoor gain an important source of nutrition through the setting up of a shared community kitchen garden in the village.

Joint Director of Horticulture, Shibila Mary, said the kitchen garden was set up on around 650 sq.m. and included more than 25 women who were taking care of the garden. The Horticulture Department provided shade net houses, seeds, fertilizers and insecticides to the communities as part of the initiative begun in 2024, Ms. Shibila Mary added.

The department also helped ensure that the communities grew green leafy vegetables, broccoli and radish using organic farming methods.

The initiative was undertaken in Anaipallam village after the district administration noted that people living in the village were under-nourished, officials said. Horticulture Department officials said that prior to the implementation of the project, that members of the community were brought to Udhagamandalam and were given special training on how to raise the crops at the community kitchen garden.

The officials said the produce in the plot was consumed entirely by the villagers themselves, and it was hoped that the initiative would improve the overall health of all community members by ensuring availability of nutritious produce. They also added that they would support the community if they planned to extend the kitchen garden to produce more vegetables in the future. “If they are receptive to the idea, they could even produce organic vegetables that could be sold in markets to supplement their livelihoods,” said the officials.