Nutri-Gardening Initiative Promises Better Nutrition for Tribal Women Farmers 18/02/2021
A glimpse of brinjal, tomatoes, green chillies, pumpkins and bottle gourd cultivated in a nutri-garden. Dry leaves and paddy straws are used as mulch to enrich moisture and increase soil fertility. Photo: Abhijit Mohanty
Khunta, one of the remote blocks of North Odisha’s Mayurbhanj, is yet to overcome malnutrition. For years, rain-fed agriculture and collection of forest produce constituted a major source of livelihood for the tribal community here.
However, with varying climatic conditions, such as erratic rainfall and prolonged dry seasons, the tribal youth of the region have lost faith in agriculture as a sustainable means of income. Depletion of forest resources has weakened their economy all the more.