HOMESTEAD VEGETABLE GARDENING USING GRAYWATER: MEETING … · HOMESTEAD VEGETABLE GARDENING USING GRAYWATER: MEETING THE NEED OF YEAR ROUND ... Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth, Rahuri

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Contemporary Research in India (ISSN 2231-2137): Vol. 7: Issue: 3 September, 2017

HOMESTEAD VEGETABLE GARDENING USING

GRAYWATER: MEETING THE NEED OF YEAR ROUND

VEGETABLE REQUIREMENT OF LANDLESS AND

MARGINAL FARMERS

J. S. Pachpute1, S. T. Pachpute2, G. G. Sane3 and A. M. Patil4

1Associate Professor, Agricultural Engineering Section 2Professor, Animal Science Dairy Science

section and 3Junior Research Fellow, RKVY project on RRWHSFS, College of Agriculture, Pune

Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth, Rahuri

Received: 03/08/2017 Edited: 09/08/2017 Accepted: 18/08/2017

Abstract: Agricultural growth itself does not necessarily lead to improved nutrition. Therefore, for many years, governments,

donors, UN agencies and NGOs have been promoting home gardens to achieve better family nutrition, mostly with positive

results. In the arid, semi-arid, and sub-humid tropical regions, which include much of rural India, water is a critical input to

successful home gardening and very often a critical problem affecting the year-round productivity of gardens. In principle, it is

possible to grow vegetables year-round, even in the dry regions by capturing and storing rainwater as well as household grey water.

Keyhole and sack gardening experimented under the RKVY project on rain-runoff water harvesting storages for

smallholder farming systems, were introduced in water scarce areas as the system innovations enabling landless and marginal

farmers to grow vegetables by recycling used greywater and using locally available material. The homestead garden helped the poor

families to grow vegetables nearly all year round. Both gardening options provided improved nutrition to households and for this

reason the innovations are recommended for use in water constrained areas.

Key words: vegetable gardening, graywater, water harvesting.

Introduction:

In India nearly 21.9 % of the population lives

below the food consumption based poverty line,

lacking sufficient resources to afford diet of 2122

kilocalories (kcal) per person per day, along with

other basic necessities (Anonymous,. 2013). The

normal diet of Indian people is seriously imbalanced,

with inadequate consumption of protein, fat, oil,

fruits and vegetables and with more than 80 per cent

of calories derived from cereals. Animal foods which

are the richest sources of many micronutrients,

including Vitamin A, are beyond most people’s

means.

About 70% of farming population consumes

more than 70% of Recommended Dietary Allowance

for energy, however the intakes of micronutrients

such as vitamin A and riboflavin are seen inadequate.

Per day at least 400 gm of vegetable and fruit is

needed for an adult, whereas farmers are consuming

only around 35 gm/head /day (except potato)

(Anonymous,2010; WHO, 2009). Research findings

suggest that unavailability of cheap vegetables and

fruits and lack of nutritional knowledge contributes

to the problem of malnutrition (Bhuyan et al., 2001;

Arlappa et.al.2011).

Leafy vegetables form part of the richest

vitamin sources. Spinach and onion happen to be the

most common vegetables in farmer’s diets. Hence,

promoting the production and consumption of

comparatively cheap vegetables, fruits and poultry is

an important strategy for combating nutritional

deficiency.

The landless laborers form 34% part of the

total population in India and possess no farm land,

however they own the homestead. The marginal and

smallholder farmers constitute 66% of the

population having average land holding of less than

0.46 ha (Venkaiah et.al, 2002). The cultivable land

and water are scarce resources for marginal farmers.

Their farms are mostly engaged in production of

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staple and fodder crops. For the landless farming

laborers and marginal farmers only homestead is

available for cultivating vegetables and fruits. The

homesteads in India are unutilized or underutilized

and not scientifically managed, which could be

brought under round the year vegetable and fruit

cultivation without touching the cultivable land

owned by the farmer.

Homestead can be an operational farm unit

in which a number of tree crops, vegetables, fruits,

medicinal plants are grown along with livestock,

poultry mainly to satisfy the farmers basic need

(Tejwani, 1994). The homestead garden can be an

integrated farm system comprising different things in

its small area: the family house, a living area, a

kitchen garden, a mixed garden, a fish pond, stores,

an animal house and people. Homestead vegetable

gardening allow to utilize maximum resources of the

homestead for growing vegetables and fruits, to

enhance intake of vegetables and fruits for ensuring

family nutrition towards sustainable livelihoods and

to increase cash income. Homesteads are the

resources that can provide major share of livelihood

especially for poor farmers. The resource poor

farmers can get about 50% of their food and petty

cash from homestead. Harvested rainwater and

reusing greywater for cultivation of homestead

vegetable gardens will address the year round need of

vegetables of landless and marginal farmer families.

Greywater is household wastewater that is not

polluted with faeces, such as water from bathroom,

after washing clothes and kitchen utensils. In poor

rural areas, greywater is not soapy as soap may be a

luxury item to these households. For example, wood

ash is commonly used for washing utensils.

Accordingly, greywater is a safe and even beneficial

source of irrigation water in a homestead garden.

The greywater can be used conveniently and

safely for vegetable production through the system

innovations such as keyhole garden and sack garden.

These innovations are not widely practiced in India.

However, due to the increased water scarcity and

reduced size of land holdings, now the role of these

vegetable cultivation techniques for securing

household nutrition has become imperative.

Accordingly, these techniques are being

experimented in Thakarwadi and Gadakwadi villages

of Rajgurunagar Tahsil in Pune District under the

research project namely “Rain Runoff Water

Harvesting Storages for Smallholder Farming

Systems” sanctioned under the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas

Yojana programme. The focus of this study is to

maximize nutrition intake of landless and marginal

farmer families through the household level

innovations such as keyhole and sack vegetable

gardens and reuse of greywater.

Material and Methods:

Gadakwadi and Thakarwadi villages:

Gadakwadi and Thakarwadi are the villages

situated in Rajgurunager tahsil in Pune District. The

Gadakwadi village comprises of marginal and

smallholder farmers, most of them are below poverty

line. Drinking water is the problem of topmost

priority in summer. Vegetables are not at all

cultivated in summer season due to the scarcity of

water. Thakarwadi is a tribal settlement and comprises

marginal farmers. Water scarcity is severe after rainy

season since this settlement is located on hilltop

where water storages are unavailable. All farmers are

below poverty line and work as farm labourers in

non-rainy season. In Thakarwadi during non-rainy

season of eight months the vegetables are completely

absent from the farmer’s diet. Innovations for

homestead gardening using harvested rainwater and

greywater are needed for addressing the nutrition

deficiency.

System Innovations for Homestead Gardening

1) Keyhole Garden:

It is a homestead garden model developed

for safe use of greywater. The raised bed of this

garden looks like a keyhole from above so this

garden is called as keyhole garden (Fig.1). A keyhole

garden is a 6 feet diameter circular raised bed of

waist height with a wedge cut out of it. It has a

circular walkway around it to allow the farmer to sit

or squat while working in the garden. Bed is held in

place by any kind of material such as used bricks,

stones, wooden planks, cement blocks etc. Farmer

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can step into the empty wedge to reach anywhere in

the bed without actually stepping on the soil. The

bed is comprised of layers of soil and organic

compost that add nutrients whilst retaining moisture,

thereby making the keyhole gardens productive even

in dry and less fertile areas (Fig.1).

The keyhole gardens are designed to be

watered with greywater, both to conserve water and

reduce the burden of collecting additional water for

irrigation. Water can be applied to the top of the bed

or through the cylindrical compost basket at the

centre, thereby watering the layer beneath. The

basket helps filter out the chemicals from soap and

detergents. The water applied in compost basket

saturates the compost, then seeps into the

surrounding soil to reach the roots. As it washes

through the compost the water picks up soluble

nutrients and carries them to the roots. Every time

the garden gets watered, it is fertilized as well. During

periods of extreme drought, water can be retained by

covering the entire system in plastic. Keyhole

gardens are fertile gardens and for diverse nutritional

input multiple vegetables can be cultivated, such as

herbs, spinach, lettuce, carrots, tomatoes, radish,

gourds and pumpkin. The latter two can have their

roots in the raised bed but may grow alongside or on

to the ground. On average, one single keyhole garden

contains 200 to 240 seedlings of vegetables. The

keyhole garden provides benefits such as soil

enrichment, moisture retention, labour saving and

year-round vegetable production.

2) Sack Garden

Sack gardening systems enable the

production of vegetables where space is scarce. It is a

homestead garden model for safe use of greywater.

Usually a Jute or Burlap sack supported by wooden

poles, is filled with a mixture of soil and compost.

Two designs of the sack garden are developed: (1) A

sack is filled with the horizontal layers of gravel and

soil mixed with compost. Greywater is then poured

from top so as to pass through the gravel layers (Fig.

2a) which removes some of the soap and other

components.(2) A sack with a central column of

about 5 cm of diameter filled with gravel and

surrounded by soil mixed with compost. Greywater

is then poured through the gravel column that

removes some of the soap and other dirt

components (Fig.2b).

Vegetable are planted on top as well as in the

holes cut into the sides of the bag. Leafy greens like

herbs, lettuce, spinach, fenugreek, coriander and dale

are most appropriate for cultivation since they keep

on growing even after the leaves have been

harvested. A piece of cloth is stretched over the

plants to protect them from direct sunlight. On

average, one single sack contains 70 to 90 seedlings

of leafy vegetables. The main advantages of sack

gardens are their portability, low size, low cost,

efficiency, productivity and contributions to nutrition

security.

Implementation of Homestead Gardening

Programme:

The homesteads were selected and farmers

were trained in various tasks such as (a) Key hole and

sack garden construction, maintenance and

management, (b) traditional and non-costly methods

of disease and pest control such as spraying neempest,

(c) compost making, (d) vegetable production. At the

end of the training, farmers were encouraged to

prepare one keyhole and one sack garden per family.

Regular watering, monitoring of the keyhole and sack

gardens, pests and disease control, composting were

adopted by the farmers.

Selecting Garden Location:

The homestead garden were placed within a

convenient walking distance from the kitchen as the

vegetables can be easily accessed for cooking as well

as the kitchen scrap compost can be easily fed to the

keyhole garden. Moreover, the gardens were located

near the tree or next to house so as to shield in the

afternoon and or summer, reducing the amount of

sunlight the garden is exposed to.

Preparation of Compost:

The household waste products were used to

make compost material. Dead leaves, thatch, grass

clippings, manure and straw from the yard which are

good sources of carbon were used. Moreover,

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vegetable and fruit scraps and used tea powder which

provide nitrogen were used in the composting.

3. Building the Keyhole Garden:

Step by step procedure was followed to construct the

keyhole garden.

1. The outside diameter of a Keyhole Garden was

kept 2 m with the diameter of compost basket 18

inches. A wooden stake was hammered into the

ground at the center of the place selected for

garden. A string of 1 m length was attached to

the center stake. The other end of the string was

tied to another steak. The string was pulled tight

and with the second steak circle was marked on

the ground (Fig.3a). The process was repeated

for tracing circle using 9 inches length of string

for the basket. Around the inner ring 4 to 6

wooden posts were secured into the ground.

2. The outline of the garden was lined with used

brick and stones. The first row of brick for the

outside wall served as the template for the rest of

the garden (Fig.3b). The wedge like indent for

the pathway to the basket was constructed.

3. The central compost basket is finished by

wrapping the wooden posts with chicken wire

and securing it using staples or tie wire. The

compost basket was primed with already

composting material to provide the micro

organisms needed to break down the compost

material. Native compost and manure were

added to fill the compost basket (Fig.3c)

4. For filling the bed the base for the first layer of

soil was prepared by laying larger rocks and stone

piled up in the bottom to allow adequate

drainage in monsoon months. Tree debris such

as twigs, leaves and branches were piled up as

second layer to provide a long term compost

source. Sandy topsoil is added on top of second

layer and mound is formed towards the basket

(Fig.3d). Sandy topsoil promotes good drainage

because it has a sandy consistency and a small

percentage of gravel with low clay content. On

the topsoil, alternated layers of organic material

such as native compost and soil were provided

until the desired height of garden.

Seeds were planted in Keyhole garden

according to the season. Multiple varieties of plants

were chosen in order to preserve the quality of the

soil and repel pests (Fig.2). Root plants like carrot

and radish were planted next to leafy plants. Onions

and garlic were planted intermittently to help repel

the pests. Plants were set closely enough that when

they are full grown their leaves just touch. As a result

the shade created by the leaf canopy slowed

evaporation and kept soil cooler so the garden

needed less frequent irrigation. At the same time,

weed seed germination was reduced, so the

homestead gardens were relatively weed free. The

garden layers sank over time because of

decomposition of the layers of organic material, so

some soil was added regularly to maintain the level of

the garden.

5. Building a Sack Garden

The mixture of soil and compost manure was

prepared. Each burlap or Jute sack used by the

project was about 0.5 m3, for a crop surface of 5m2.

Each sack contained up to 70 to 90 plants of

different types of vegetables.

Method 1

First of all a shallow layer of soil was placed

in the bottom of the sack. Then for constructing the

central column of gravel, a vertical container (can)

with the top and bottom cut out and having diameter

4 inch was placed in the center and filled with gravel

of size 2-3 inches. The soil was filled around the

gravel filled container till the edges at top.

When the soil reached the top, the container

was pulled out gently, leaving the rocks in a column

in the center. This procedure was repeated until the

bag was full with a center column of gravel and

mixture of soil with compost around the column.

The column is for drainage and water distribution

throughout the sack (Fig.4a).

Wherever, it was available, the wire mesh

(chicken wire) shaped in to cylinder and PVC pipe of

3 to 4 inch diameter filled with gravel made it easier

to create the central column of gravel. The wire was

shaped into a long cylinder, put upright on the

bottom of the bag, was filled with gravel and then

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the bag was filled in with soil mixed with compost.

The wire mesh was left inside when filling of the bag

was finished. In case of a PVC pipe, it was pulled out

when the pipe was completely filled with gravel and

bag was full of soil mixed with compost. The

plantation of root crops like radish, tomato, carrot

was done on top of the sack. Herbs and leafy

vegetables such as mint, coriander spinach,

fenugreek, were planted on the side of the sack by

cutting a small “upside down T” shaped holes in the

sack for planting along the sides of the sack.

Method 2

The sack was filled with horizontal layers of

gravel of about 5 cm thick placed in between the 30

cm thick layers of soil mixed with compost (Fig. 4b).

Greywater is then poured from top so as to pass

through the gravel layers which removes some of the

soap and other components. Herbs and leafy

vegetables such as mint, coriander spinach,

fenugreek, were planted on the side of the sack by

cutting a small “upside down T” shaped holes.

6. Operation of Keyhole and Sack Garden:

Farmers watered their gardens twice per day

with greywater. Compost and cow manure is applied

as source of nutrients. Homemade pesticides neempest

prepared from the leaves of neem tree was applied.

Vegetables were harvested as and when required by

the household, only by cutting lower leaves leaving

the top ones for continual growth. For most

vegetables, harvesting was done four times a month.

The homestead garden produced almost 60 kg

vegetable from keyhole and 20 kg vegetable from sack

garden each month, worth Rs.1000 and Rs.450

respectively.

Results and Discussion:

Homestead gardens played critical roles in

enabling many poor rural households in Gadakwadi

and Thakarwsdi to meet their food security and

nutritional requirements. The gardens were

constructed from locally available materials. The

construction was simple and not labour intensive.

No financial capital investment was required from

the households as the seeds were available with

farmer community that were shared among

homesteads.

Households have direct access to greywater

and organic waste for compost. However, with a

simple alteration to the design of the homestead

gardens such as keyhole and sack garden, the greywater

is used productively for vegetable cultivation. In

poor rural areas, greywater is not soapy as soap may

be a luxury item to these households. For example,

ash is commonly used for washing utensils.

Accordingly, the use of greywater is productive and

can be easily promoted.

Conclusions:

Keyhole and sack gardening are the appropriate

technology that enabled people in water-constrained

places to grow vegetables by recycling used water

and using locally available material. Homestead

gardens experimented under this study helped to

extend the growing season, even in dry periods, so

that vegetables were grown by families nearly all year

round. Both gardening options provided improved

nutrition to households and for this reason the

technologies are recommended for use in rural areas.

References:

Anonymous, 2010. New Delhi: National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme

Implementation: Government of India; 2012. Household consumption of various goods and services

in India: 66th Round (2009-10).

Anonymous, 2013. Press Note on Poverty Estimates, 2011-12 Government of India, Planning Commission,

July 2013.

Arlappa, N, Venkaiah, K., Brahmam, G.N.V., 2011. Severe drought and the vitamin A status of rural pre-

school children in India. Disasters. 2011; 35:577-86

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Bhuyan, M. A. Haque, M. A., Al-Mahmud, S., Rahman, M. M. ,Rahman M. K. and N. Shaheen. 2001.

Nutrition education exposure and nutritional status of selected household members in three agro-

ecological locations of Bangladesh. Bangladesh J of Nutrition, Vol. 14: 31-40.

Tejwani, K. G. 1994. Agroforestry in India, Oxford and IBH Publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi.

Venkaiah K., Damayanti K., Nayak M. U. and Vijayaraghavan K., 2002. Diet and nutritional status of rural

adolescents in India. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition. November 2002, Volume 56, Number

11, Pages 1119-1125

World Health Organization (WHO), 2009. Global prevalence of vitamin A deficiency in populations at risk

1995-2005. WHO Global Database on Vitamin A Deficiency. Geneva:

Fig. 1: Top view and Side view of Keyhole vegetable garden

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Fig. 2: Keyhole vegetable garden

Fig. 3: Stepwise Construction of Keyhole Garden

Fig. 4: Types of Sack Gardens

Documents

HOMESTEAD VEGETABLE GARDENING USING GRAYWATER: MEETING … · HOMESTEAD VEGETABLE GARDENING USING GRAYWATER: MEETING THE NEED OF YEAR ROUND ... Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth, Rahuri