Nutrition Sensitive Agriculture Practices in Rural Communities of Nalgonda District, India
Deepa Amgoth *
Department of Extension Education and Communication Management, College of Community Science, Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University, Hyderabad, Telangana, India.
B. Jamuna Rani
Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University, Hyderabad, Telangana, India.
M. Prasuna
Department of Extension Education and Communication Management, College of Community Science, Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University, Hyderabad, Telangana, India.
B. Anila Kumari
Department of Foods and Nutrition, PGRC, Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University, Hyderabad, Telangana, India.
D. Srinivasa Chary
Department of Statistics and Mathematics, College of Agriculture, PJTSAU, India.
Veenita Kumari
Department of Gender Studies, MANAGE, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad-500030, India.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Nutrition-Sensitive Agriculture (NSA) is important for rural communities as it promotes the production of diverse, nutrient-rich crops and helps to improve food security, reduce malnutrition, and promote better health outcomes. It also helps to increase the incomes of smallholder farmers and enhance their resilience to climate change and other external shocks.
The study indicated that the majority of respondents are between the ages of 20 to 40 (59.50%), have a low level of education (51.70% are illiterate), come from joint families (56.10%), and have an annual income between Rs.50,000-1,50,000 (72.78%).
The study provides information on the nutrition and agricultural practices of the respondents. It shows that a high proportion of respondents practice kitchen/nutrition gardening (85.56%) and grow vegetables in their garden (85.56%). Leafy vegetables (51.67%) and fruits (57.22%) are the most commonly grown crops. However, practices such as integrated farming systems (4.44%), the Nutri thali concept (0.00%), and organic farming (7.22%) are not widely adopted.
The aim of the study was to know the nutrition sensitive agriculture practices followed by small and marginal women in Nalgonda district of Telangana state. In this study a total number of 180 respondents were selected for the study.
This study was an attempt to as there is a need to put attention on the educational aspects by stimulating the small and marginal women farmers and the families of rural communities by adopting farming practices that promote the production and consumption of diverse and nutrient-rich crops, rural farmers can also improve their own nutrition as well as that of their communities.
Keywords: Nutrition, nutrition-sensitive agriculture, malnutrition, dietary diversity, Integrated Farming Systems (IFS), kitchen gardening