HYDERABAD: Though terrace gardening has already become a vogue in urban centres such as Hyderabad, Thummeti Raghothama Reddy, an expert in this, is going all out to popularise it even more by sharing his passion through various media platforms regularly. For over a decade now, he has been focused on helping people set up terrace gardens to grow organic crops and also discourage the consumption of veggies that contain pesticide residue.
A visit to his house at Narapally village, along the Hyderabad-Warangal Highway in Ghatkesar mandal, will prove his love for gardening and plants. Covered by a canopy of shrubs, one can easily spot his house in the neighbourhood. “After we shifted here, with my past experience in kitchen gardening, I decided to give terrace gardening a try. We started off by growing just curry leaves; now, our terrace garden houses several varieties of fruits, leafy greens, vegetables and flowering plants. It has been more than 10 years since I bought vegetables from markets,” says a very proud Raghothama Reddy.
‘Say no to pesticides’
A native of Vellampalli, now under Jayashankar-Bhupalpally district, he hails from a ryot family. However, Raghothama Reddy did not take up agriculture as his profession. Instead, he worked and retired from the Singareni Collieries Company Limited at Godavarikhani. Albeit not a full-time ryot, Raghothama Reddy has been working on the fields, helping his family members, since adolescence.
With the onslaught of international pesticide brands, he started wondering about the effects these chemicals would have on the human body. “It was when we were forced to use Endrin on our chilli crop about 45 years back that I started thinking as to how it would affect us. Around the same time, one of our relatives ended their life by consuming this pesticide. It was after getting a job in Godavarikhani that I bought vegetables from the market for the first time.
I immediately decided to set up a kitchen garden,” recollects Raghothama Reddy. He believes that despite all the efforts by the authorities, usage of different types of proscribed pesticides is still rampant. Apart from this, such chemicals are now sprayed on the soil. “Think about it, if we consume such huge quantities of residue, how will our body cope with it? Hence, I decided to encourage others to use organic pesticides and since 2015, I have been sharing my works on Facebook,” he says.
Terrace Garden
Recently, he compiled all his experiences into a book titled Terrace Garden (Midde Thota). It was published in Telugu and English by Rythu Nestham Publications. The English translation of the book was released by Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu recently.Apart from taking part in over 50 workshops by Nature’s Voice, Rythu Nestham Foundation, and the Horticulture Departments of both AP and Telangana, Raghothama Reddy has made about 300 tutorial videos that have been broadcasted on TV and YouTube.
“I decided to share my experiences so that people not only save money, but also avoid using cancer-causing pesticide-laced vegetables. I just wonder, if the entire 50,000-acres of terrace space in Hyderabad is covered with such gardens, how wonderful would that be” he shared his hope while wearing a smile. Explaining how to overcome pest attacks on plants, he says: “It can be controlled easily. During the initial stages, one can pluck the affected leaves with hands. If pest attacks become beyond control, use only neem oil and avoid chemical-laced pesticides,” he adds.