Live
- ‘Get Set, Grow Summit 2024’ Focuses on Digital Detox for Families
- Stokes motivates his team to put in extra effort, says England pacer Potts
- From overcoming setbacks to leading India in U19 Women’s Asia Cup, Niki Prasad's amazing journey
- Driving Enterprise Security: Inside Venkata Reddy Thummala’s Leadership Journey
- Constitution debate: PM Modi hails 'Nari Shakti'; makes strong pitch for 'United Bharat’
- Abhijeet Bhardwaj: Revolutionizing Enterprise Analytics with Innovation and Expertise
- Bihar: Inquiry initiated against principal who went to buy veggies during school hours
- Press Sri Lankan Prez for release of Indian fishermen: TN Cong MP to EAM Jaishankar
- TN: DMK postpones executive meet due to heavy rains & Parliament session
- Porous silicon oxide electrodes can fix durability issues in batteries: Researchers
Vegetables from nalas are healthy!
Not many of us would have realised that only 15 per cent of vegetables that the Hyderabad is consume are grown in Telangana while the remaining 85 per cent are imported from other States. It was not much a surprise when Finance Minister Eatala Rajender earmarked Rs 250 crore for the development of Green House farming over 1,000 acres of land in and around the city Subsequently,
Manakooragayalu can be grown in the Hyderabad
- Dredged waste from Picket, Banjara and Balkapur nalas can be used as fertilisers for growing vegetables
- Waste from Kukatpally nala is unviable for growing vegetables due to toxic waste from Patancheru industrial belt
Not many of us would have realised that only 15 per cent of vegetables that the Hyderabad is consume are grown in Telangana while the remaining 85 per cent are imported from other States. It was not much a surprise when Finance Minister Eatala Rajender earmarked Rs 250 crore for the development of Green House farming over 1,000 acres of land in and around the city Subsequently, Agrculture Minister Pocharam Srinivas Reddy announced ‘Mana Kooragayalu’ (vegetables of the soil) programme to come up in 1,000 acres within 100 km radius of the city, to give a boost to locally grown vegetables.
Reportedly, the city depends on imports from Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh to meet its demands for vegetables.However, there is some good news for the locals, both for thse growing vegeratbles and the consumber. A recent study by a group of professors from Acharya NG Ranga Agricultural University (ANGRAU) reveals that most varuities can be cultivated within the city.
The report that has been submitted to the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA), stated that barring Kukatpally nala, the dredged waste from the other nalas like Picket, Banjara and Balkapur can be used as fertilisers/compost and boost the yield with scentfically proven measures.
Much against the popular belief, metal residues in the vegrtables are much below detectable levels like in the case of common hybrid varieties.The HMDA officials have mixed the dredged waste with soil and have grown crops in four patches in Sanjeevaiah Park (one patch for waste from each nala). The yield of the crop (tomato, brinjal and leafy vegetables) is good and the samples were sent to the agricultural varsity for detection of harmful chemicals with their technical kno-how.
Except the vegetables that were grown at Kukatpally nala, other vegetables showed no signs of toxins, states the report. Reportedly, the dredged waste from the three nalas is organic and helped in the growth of crop, unlike that of Kukatpally nala, which is toxic due to wastes from the industries in Patancheru.
With government keen to grow vegetables, will it go by the latets report by a qualitifed agency and use dredged waste to grow crops in the heart of the city and use the same as fertiliser/compost in other areas, is the million dollar question.
