By Subir Kumar Sarker from Ghior, Manikganj
Vegetables are an important source of vitamins, minerals and fibre and play a vital role in household nutrition. Promoting local vegetable varieties and preserving indigenous seeds can help families meet their nutritional needs while reducing dependence on markets.
During the monsoon, homestead yards, rooftops, raised platforms, trellises and other household spaces can be used for vegetable cultivation. In Helachia village of Nali Union, Ghior, Manikganj, 37-year-old Parveen Akter has taken an initiative to promote this practice.
This year, she distributed locally saved vegetable seeds to 11 families and encouraged them to produce their own vegetables rather than purchasing them from the market. Nine families in Helachia East Para have cultivated Indian spinach, bottle gourd, ridge gourd, amaranth, chilli, eggplant and papaya using vermicompost, cow dung and ash. They have used rooftops, trellises, raised beds, containers, sacks and bamboo structures over a nearby pond for cultivation.
As a result, the participating families have largely met their monsoon-season vegetable needs from their homesteads without buying vegetables from the market.
Parveen’s homestead was included in the Shatabari Development Model in 2024. With BARCIK’s support, she received a cement ring for vermicomposting and an earthen container for seed preservation, which encouraged her to expand her initiative.
Parveen said organic vegetable cultivation is helping her family to meet its nutritional needs while generating additional income by selling surplus produce. She also said that her husband supports her work.
Inspired by Parveen, neighbouring families have started homestead vegetable cultivation and seed exchange. She hopes every household in her village will eventually become a “nutrition home.”