Nutrition Kitchen Gardening using Low Cost Water Harvesting Structure-Jalkund

Dr. S. Roma Devi[1] and Er. L. Kanta Singh[2] *

A farmer of H Mongjang village in Chandel district :: Pix by Nepram Tombi

1. Introduction

Nutrition kitchen gardening is not new to the state of Manipur; it had been practicing since the time of immemorial. But we are not aware of the system in our present days. As per the traditional farming practicing in Manipur, in general, most of the houses have a piece of land, specially kept for kitchen gardening, which consist of varieties of indigenous vegetables and fruits. These indigenous vegetables and fruits can supplement almost all the nutrition requirement for a family to maintain a good healthy life.

Small farm ponds are also generally constructed adjoining the garden which supplies irrigation water for vegetables and fruits growing in the garden and also served the purposes of aqua culture. Cattles were also reared for draft and milk purposes. Cattle dung's were generally used as manure in the garden. There were no chemical uses for any kind of farming system. It was a small approached at the family level, but it was a sustainable and chemical free farming system. But today, such traditional farming systems are declining in rural areas and hard to find in urban areas of Manipur due to the population growth and expansion of the inhabited area by modern structures.

Land is the constraint so people could not maintain such traditional sustainable farming system, because it needs irrigation system during the dormant season, which earlier were through small farm ponds and now people cannot afford to keep one. So, kitchen gardening is declining day by day and forced to depend on market vegetables and fruits. But there is still hope to regain kitchen gardening in our backyard through some lost cost technology of water harvesting structure, we can call it Jalkund.

2. Nutrition Kitchen Garden

A Nutrition kitchen garden (also known as a vegetable patch or vegetable plot) is a garden that exists to grow vegetables and other useful plants like fruits, medicinal plants, spices, etc., for human consumption. It is a small-scale form of vegetable growing. In a vegetable garden there can be pitted for composting and several plots or divided areas of land, intended to grow one or more types of plant in each plot.

Plots may also be divided into rows with an assortment of vegetables grown in the different rows. It is usually located to the rear of a property in the back garden or back yard. Many families have a kitchen and vegetable gardens that they use to produce food. With worsening of chemical uses and increased interest in organic and sustainable living, many people are turning to vegetable kitchen gardening as a supplement to their family's diet.

3. Starting a Kitchen Gardening

The best location for a kitchen garden is the area which receives maximum sunlight (or at least six hours of direct sunlight per day); if land location is the constraint then choose any location depending upon the availability and soil having proper drainage system. The best way to start kitchen gardening is to start small for the beginners, after few successful of cultivation in year one, and scale up little by little. Generally on an average about 20 square meters of area per person is needed to maintain a sustainable kitchen gardening, so while selecting the area for kitchen gardening, it is also important to know the number of family members as well.

3.1 Some of advantages of kitchen gardening are:

1. Availability of fresh vegetables and fruits from garden to kitchen.
2. Availability of nutrition fresh vegetables and fruits depending upon requirements.
3. Use of chemical and fertilizer can be minimized.
4. Since the farming area is small and it will be easy to convert the area into organic farming.
5. Kitchen waste can be decomposed to use as manure for kitchen gardening.
6. Working in the garden will improve physical health.
7. Kitchen gardening will reduce daily kitchen expenditure.
4. Preparing the Garden Site

After identifying the area, it is necessary to check the garden area like removal of unwanted materials and also check the soil properties of the garden. Since the area won't be suitable for using bigger implements and machineries, it is advisable to use locally available hand tools and implements or ICAR developed tools for North East Hill Region, in which tools are easily operational and eco-friendly. After the primary and secondary tillage of land preparation, on a plot of lawn, one can build up from the ground with raised beds, or plant directly in the ground and building raised beds are a good idea if the soil is poor or doesn't drain well.

5. Choosing Garden Crops

One can choose crops depending on nutrition values or may be base on taste or market value of the crop. Sketching out a garden plan will be helpful in planting crops where, when and how. Some of the suggestions for choosing appropriate crops can be refer through Table 1, Table 2, and Table 3.

Table.1: Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for Indians

Sources: Anonymous, 2009. Nutrient requirements and recommended dietary allowances for Indians, National Institute of Nutrition, ICMR, Hyderabad
High Resolution table - Link here

Table.2: Vegetables Nutrition Facts (Raw, edible weight portion. Percent Daily Values (%DV) are based on a 2,000 calorie diet)

Sources: http://www.fda.gov/Food/IngredientsPackagingLabeling/LabelingNutrition/ucm063482.htm (browse on 16-01-2014)
High Resolution table 2-1 - Link here
High Resolution table 2-2 - Link here

6. Crop Calendar Crop calendar is very important for selecting appropriate seasonal crop for kitchen gardening. It can be easily available at Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) of the respective district. It will give the knowledge of crop duration, choosing of crops and seasonal suitability, etc.

7. Crop Management

After sowing seeds or planting of seedlings, it is important to provide water at the right time and right amount. Composting from the kitchen waste can be used as manure for the crops and organic matter like straw, grass clippings, shredded leaves, etc. can be used as mulch. Organic mulching helps in controlling weeds, retain moisture, and adds organic matter to the soil as it decays.

Sufficient and proper irrigation is important for plant's healthy growth. For efficient water application drip or micro sprinkler may be used for irrigation. Crop duration of one crop may be differing from other crops so, time to time harvesting and filling is also important for crop management. The garden may be provided fence if necessary.

8. Low Cost Rainwater Harvesting Structure-Jalkund

Any farming involves water and construction of water storage structure is costly, and many farmers could not afford to have water harvesting structure. For successfully maintaining of nutrition kitchen garden, one must have a water storage structure for water storage and this water can be utilized during the dormant season.

A low-cost rainwater harvesting structure called Jalkund was developed by ICAR Research Complex for NEH Region, Umiam, Meghalaya. It was experimented and developed on the hilltops at ICAR Research Farm. Jalkund can store varying capacity from 6,000 liters to 60,000litres depends on dimensions of construction. A 6,000 liters capacity Jalkund will have a dimension of 2m*2m*1.5m and likewise 60,000 liters capacity Jalkund will have a dimension of 5m*8m*1.5m. The procedure for construction of Jalkund is very simple and it is easy to construct. Some of the steps involved in construction of Jalkund are given below:

1. Site selection: Site selection is very important for Jalkund construction, especially in hill areas. Because the water available in Jalkund will be used for irrigation. If the site is wrongly selected the utility of Jalkund may be less. Where as in plain areas, it can be constructed anywhere depending upon water harvesting opportunity and location of the farm or kitchen garden. Once the site is selected, it is followed by clearing the site from unwanted materials.

2. The digging of the Site: After the clearing of the site, digging on the site is done. The size of the Jalkund may be different depending upon the storage capacity, water harvesting capacity, and availability of space area. Some the sizes of Jalkund are given below:

Table.4: Different dimensions of Jalkund

3. The bottom and side slopes of Jalkund are smoothen by removing rocks, stones or any other projections, which otherwise might damage the lining material. Spraying of insecticide like Endosulphon 35EC on of the inner walls and bottom of the Jalkund and also application of Aluminium Phosphide @1 tablet /live hole is done in order prevent from pest and rodent.

4. The inner walls and bottom of the Jalkund are to be properly plastered with a mixture of clay and cow dung in the ratio of 5:1.

5. After clay-cow dung plastering, walls and bottom of the Jalkund is cushioned at about 3-5 cm thickness of dry pine leaf to avoid any kind of damage to the lining material from any sharp or conical materials.

6. After cushioning Jalkund is lined with a minimum thickness of 250 µm LDPE black agri film. The lining of agri film is done carefully and properly. About 25 – 30 cm outer edge of agri-film is to be buried in the soil so that the film is tightly bound from all around.

7. Fencing may be provided for protection and Jalkund may be covered with thatch made portable roof in order to prevent from evaporation.

9. Conclusion

Nutrition kitchen gardening is one of the very essential part of our day to day life. It will not only provide healthy food, but it will also provide health and economic benefit for the family. Jalkund as a low cost water harvesting structure can be successfully implemented in the areas of kitchen garden. Since it is easy to construct at very minimal cost, so the farmers or kitchen gardeners can take up nutrition kitchen gardening as well as Jalkund simultaneously. It will not only provide healthier food, but it will also contribute some of the economy to the state in particular and to our nation in general.

References

o Anonymous, 2009. Nutrient requirements and recommended dietary allowances for Indians, National Institute of Nutrition, ICMR, Hyderabad.
o http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitchen_garden(Browse on 15-01-2014)
o http://gardening.about.com/od/vegetable1/a/How-Much-Plant.htm(Browse on 16-01-2014)
o http://kgi.org/how-to-grow-a-kitchen-garden(Browse on 15-01-2014)
o http://www.fda.gov/Food/IngredientsPackagingLabeling/LabelingNutrition/ucm114222.htm (Browse on 16-01-2014)
o http://www.fda.gov/Food/IngredientsPackagingLabeling/LabelingNutrition/ucm063482.htm (browse on 16-01-2014)
o http://www.kiran.nic.in/jalkhund.html (Browse on 15-01-2014)
o Saha, R., Ghos, P. K., Mishra, V. K., and Bujarbaruah, K. M., 2007. Low-cost micro-rainwater harvesting technology (Jalkund) for new livelihood of rural hill farmers. Current Science, 92(9):1258-1265.