KHAMMAM: Residents in the Bhadradri Kothagudem district are taking to terrace gardening with renewed vigour with the help of district horticulture officials. Due to the increased awareness about health, people are looking to grow organic vegetables on their terraces.
Experts say that apart from fresh vegetables, people can also benefit from fresh oxygen. Some have even begun selling the yield to aid their income. The State government has been providing seeds, plants and even vermicompost manure for free through the horticulture department.
S Madhava Rao, a school headmaster, and his wife Divya have been doing terrace gardening since 2018 in Bhadrachalam. “We used to suffer from many health problems but they began to subside once we started eating vegetables grown in our terrace garden,” said Madhava.This apart, he also uses the vegetables that they grow for the Midday Meal Scheme in his school.
A resident of Karakagudem village in Pinapaka mandal, Yelipireddy Srinivas Reddy, stated that his health improve after he began consuming vegetables grown in his garden on the terrace of the building he lives in. Not just him, but the health of other family members showed a marked improvement once they switched to organic vegetables from their garden.
A Kothagudem resident and homemaker, K Usharani, said she would feel bored after her husband and children leave for work and school, respectively. “After reading about terrace gardening in newspapers, I decided to try my hand at it. Now, we are getting fresh vegetables for the entire family while I can also aid the income of the family by selling the surplus produce,” she added.