KENDRAPARA: The ‘Mo Upakari Bagicha’ (my beneficial garden) scheme has come as a blessing for a large number of migrant labourers stuck in the district due to Covid-19 pandemic.
Out of work due to the coronavirus restrictions, the returnees have now taken up kitchen gardening under the programme of Odisha Livelihood Mission (OLM) and MGNREGS.
They have planted papaya, drumsticks, banana and other fruit bearing trees and nutritious vegetables in their gardens.
“I received Rs 10,700 by working on my field for 33 days under MGNREGS. The officials provided free saplings to me. I have planted several fruit-bearing trees on my land,” said Nalini Jena of Barua village.
Nalini was working as a plumber in New Delhi and returned to his village four months back due to Covid-19 outbreak.
Around 20 youths of Baulakani village under Mahakalapada block were forced to return from their workplace in metro cities due to the pandemic.
Back in the village, they became jobless due to the lockdown. But now, most of the returnees have converted their land into kitchen gardens and are hoping for a good harvest.
Bhaskar Behera of Baulakani said many local farmers have also taken up kitchen gardening both to earn money and grow their own food.
District project manager of OLM Satyabhama Pradhan said free saplings of fruit-bearing trees and nutritious vegetables have already been provided to around 14,000 beneficiaries. Each beneficiary will get Rs 10,700 as wages for 33 days under MGNREGS.
“All the trees will bear fruits within a year of the plantation. We are providing technical support with the help of district agriculture officials. The authorities are using the pandemic situation as an opportunity to transform the barren land into kitchen gardens,” Pradhan said.
As many as 14 women self-help groups (SHGs) have been entrusted with supplying saplings to beneficiaries from their nurseries. “We are also providing bio-fertilisers to farmers under the scheme and even helped them fence their gardens. The scheme will definitely benefit small and marginal farmers as well as migrant returnees. A farmer can raise 14 types of fruits and vegetables over eight decimal of land,” the OLM manager said.
However, Pradhan said many kitchen gardens were damaged during the recent floods in the worst-hit Aul, Rajkanika, Derabishi, Pattamundai and Mahakalapada blocks of the district.