Kitchen gardens in govt schools in Dakshina Kannada hit

MANGALURU: The kitchen gardens which were developed in government schools, and taught children how to grow their own food, have been impacted due to the pandemic. The vegetables grown were used for their midday meals.
Before the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, most of the government schools in Dakshina Kannada grew local vegetables, and children used to participate in this activity.However, with schools being closed now, only a few schools have managed to grow a small quantity of vegetables.
“We used to grow local varieties of brinjal, cowpeas, ladies finger, green leafy vegetables and papaya. With schools being closed, we have grown only sweet potatoes with the help of midday meal and teaching staff,” said Devika, a teacher at Government Higher Primary School, Perlabaipady, in Belthangady taluk. “Earlier, we used to harvest about 5 kg of vegetables every day from the kitchen garden, that was used for midday meals. The kitchen garden was completely managed by children, and overseen by midday meal staff and school teachers,” she said.
With schools likely to reopen, Government Upgraded Higher Primary School, Kuthloor in Belthangady taluk, is preparing its kitchen garden for cultivation. “Last year, we sold the vegetables grown locally, and the money was utilised for school development works. This year, we were initially worried about a third wave of Covid-19. However, with schools in other districts reopening, we have have resumed our preparations to reopen, about 10 days ago,” said Roopa Kumari, a teacher at the school. During the days, before the outbreak of the pandemic, the school grew about 14 varieties of vegetables on 0.5 acres. The school has 74 students.
Magdalene D’Souza, former head of the Dakshina Kannada Zilla Panchayat Government Higher Primary School, Bokkapatna-3, said that only spinach and cowpea have been cultivated in the school kitchen garden this time. “Earlier, the yield was exclusively used for preparation of midday meals, and any surplus was sold to locals. The kitchen gardens were lessons for students outside their classrooms,” she told STOI.