With the objective to enhance green cover in the district, the zilla panchayat (ZP) has launched a programme to develop kitchen gardens with funds available under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA), said its Chief Executive Officer B. Ramu.
The zilla panchayat will distribute 1.5 lakh saplings under this programme in all 270 gram panchayats in the district, he said at an interaction on ‘Innovative technologies for sustainable development and management of forests’ here on Friday.
Apart from the saplings cultivated at the nurseries of Forest and Horticulture Departments in the district, the ZP has purchased saplings from the neighbouring Udupi, Davangere and Dakshina Kannada districts for the programme. An amount of Rs. 280 will be provided for MNREGA job cards-holders for digging a pit and planting the saplings.
The saplings of fruit-bearing trees, lemon and coconut — items used by the people in rural areas in their day-to-day life — would be distributed. The programme will enable the rural populace to cultivate the fruits and vegetables for their use in their backyard.
The ZP had constructed compound walls for 1,164 government schools in the district with the funds available under MNREGA. The Department of Public Instruction havd been directed to plant saplings of fruit-bearing trees in these schools, he said.
The programme was organised by Department of Forest and ForestPlus Foundation, an initiative of Iora Ecological Company for conservation and management of forests.
Gardening to be undertaken under MNREGA
