Impact of Establishing Kitchen Gardens on Food Variety Score and Dietary Diversity Score of Rural Households

Vegetable seed packets (450) were distributed to four hundred and fifty farm women of villages namely, Chirsi, Tajupur, Dhaikola, Badarpur said, Bhopani and Nacholi for establishing Nutri gardens and the same were established by these households. Data on Food variety score (FVS) and Dietary diversity score (DDS) was collected using a food frequency questionnaire and 24-hour recall method. The per cent contribution of vegetables from kitchen gardens for micronutrients against their respective RDAs was calculated. Technical inputs on the plantation, irrigation, nutrient management and post-harvest technology were provided. Training and demonstrations on diversified food products of vegetables, nutrient preservation methods, post-harvest management were organized among farmers' households. Pre and post-training exposure-response was collected on various aspects of kitchen gardening produce using a 20 points questionnaire. Results indicated that the per capita availability of vegetables increased from 26.54 grams to 240.87 grams with a total production of 90.92kg during the summer season and 80.62 to 278.44 grams with a total production of 150.36kg in the winter season. The increased per capita availability of vegetables has contributed 30 to 50 per cent of recommended dietary allowances of calcium, iron, vitamin-C and βcarotene. It may be concluded that kitchen gardening has served the purpose of nutrition-sensitive agriculture and resource innovations. Kitchen gardening may serve as a strong pillar of food security at the household level.