At a time when getting quality vegetables at affordable prices has become a distant dream, a teacher in Punjab’s Muktsar has set an example by distributing free vegetable seed kits to students to promote kitchen gardening.
Posted at Adarsh Senior Secondary School, Bharu, as an agriculture teacher, Bhupinder Khanna is doing this social service for the past five years.
A graduate in agriculture, Khanna said, “It’s time to grow vegetables at home for our own consumption as the use of pesticides is increasing day by day, posing health hazards.”
He said,“A vegetable seed kit costs about Rs 80. It contains enough seeds that can be grown in a farm of 6 marlas. The kit includes seeds of lettuce, broccoli, carrot, raddish, peas, coriander and spinach.”
He added, “The people of Punjab are not much familiar with vegetables like Broccoli and lettuce. Broccoli, which has medicinal properties, is beneficial for cancer patients.”
THE BEGINNING
Five years ago, Khanna asked his students to grow vegetables at home, but the latter said their parents didn’t provide them money to buy seeds. Thereafter, the teacher decided to provide them free vegetable seed kits.
Khanna, who spares Rs 25,000 every year for this noble cause, finds lack of proper space for kitchen garden in most of the houses to be a hurdle in his mission. “In view of the space problem, I plan to make smaller vegetable seed kits.”
{{/usCountry}}Khanna, who spares Rs 25,000 every year for this noble cause, finds lack of proper space for kitchen garden in most of the houses to be a hurdle in his mission. “In view of the space problem, I plan to make smaller vegetable seed kits.”
{{/usCountry}}Baljeet Singh, a progressive farmer, said “People must grow vegetables for home consumption in their kitchen gardens as the veggies available in the market are grown with the help of chemicals.”