Home gardens hit by climate change

Home gardens hit by climate change

A recent study of home gardens in the dry regions of West Bengal has revealed that they are facing the effects of climate change and that there is a need to provide agricultural extension services to these gardens for their sustenance

importance of home garden

• The paper ‘Biodiversity and Impacts of Climate Change in Home Gardens: Evidence From a Study in West Bengal’ authored by Joyashree Roy, professor at Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand, and Sebak Kumar Jana,  Vidyasagar University, points out that home garden owners have reported pest attacks, insect and diseases. The studies were conducted in the arid areas at Garbeta block in Paschim Medinipur district
• Home gardens not only provide food security but also help in maintaining green cover, harbor rich biodiversity and help in poverty reduction in rural areas. “Unless agricultural extension service is given to these home gardens, there is no guarantee that people will continue the healthy practice
• Home gardens are a major land use pattern all over the world, and in rural areas can provide vegetables and fruits to the family throughout the year. 

Pest Attack on home garden

• The most common attack on the home garden is semi­looper (Leda poka in Bengali), almost 77%, affecting vegetables and tree
• The other pests are aphids affecting 33% of home gardens and whitefly 11% of home gardens. The common diseases in the home gardens studied are mosaic in 41%, downy mildew in 37% and foot row in 32%.
• The field survey pointed out that planting dates have been changed for some crops like chili (30%), brinjal (21%) and gourd (17%). The major reasons  are changes in the onset of rain, shortage of water and lack of timely irrigation

Climate Change

• The study also looked at the change in temperature in home gardens between 1965 and 2010. The minimum temperature during this time showed an increase from the 1960s to 2005. The minimum temperature increased from 20.5 degrees Celsius to over 22 degrees C. The maximum temperature decreased from about 32 degrees C in the mid-­1960 to almost 31 degrees in 2005
• While there was no hired labor, annual time allocated by households varied from 40.14 hours and  35 hours. “The households report that some species of plants, like eucalyptus and mango, are becoming extinct in home garden… the main reason is felling, water crisis, pests and deteriorating quality of the soil,” the paper said. 
• The paper, which is part of book  Current State and Future Impacts of Climate Change on Biodiversity, highlights that there is a “need of extension services on the part of the government regarding crop planning, land management, providing irrigation and training for water and soil conservation, etc so that home garden owners can take different adaptation strategies”

About home gardens

• The household garden is a small-scale production system supplying plant and animal consumption and utilitarian items either not obtainable, affordable, or readily available through retail markets, field cultivation, hunting, gathering, fishing, and wage-earning. Household gardens tend to be located close to dwelling for security, convenience, and special care. They occupy land marginal to field production and labor marginal to major household economic activities. Featuring ecologically adapted and complementary species, household gardens are marked by low capital input and simple technology
• Generally, home gardening refers to the cultivation of a small portion of land which may be around the household or within walking distance from the family home. Home gardens can be described as a mixed cropping system that encompasses vegetables, fruits, plantation crops, spices, herbs, ornamental and medicinal plants as well as livestock that can serve as a supplementary source of food and income.

Social benefits of Home Garden

• Enhancing food and nutritional security: Reviews of studies from various countries reveal that the degree and combination of socio-cultural impacts on societies engaged in home gardening vary across the board. Multiple social benefits of home gardens include enhancing food and nutritional security in many socio-economic and political situations, improving family health and human capacity, empowering women, promoting social justice and equity, and preserving indigenous knowledge and culture 
• Improving health: Plants are an important source of medicine for humans and livestock and are used as biological pesticides to protect crops from diseases and pest infestations. Herbs and medicinal plants are grown in home gardens all over the world, and in developing countries, nearly 80% of the people use them to treat various illnesses, diseases, and also to improve their health conditions. A generous portion of the plants found in home gardens have some medicinal value and they can be used to treat many common health problems cost-effectively. 
• Uplifting the status of women: In many cultures, women play an important role in food production but at times their worth is somewhat undermined. They are also active in home gardening, though their involvement in the home garden tends to be determined by socio-cultural norms. Home gardens stimulate social change and development.
• Preserving indigenous knowledge and building integrated societies: Home gardens consist of a variety of components and species that represent social and traditional aspects of different societies. This rich indigenous culture and communal knowledge base is expressed through home gardening by the selection of plants and animal species as well as the farming practices used by the local community
• Economic benefits: The economic benefits of home gardens go beyond food and nutritional security and subsistence, especially for resource-poor families. Bibliographic evidence suggests that home gardens contribute to income generation, improved livelihoods, and household economic welfare as well as promoting entrepreneurship and rural development
• Environmental benefits: Home gardens provide multiple environmental and ecological benefits. They serve as the primary unit that initiates and utilizes ecologically friendly approaches for food production while conserving biodiversity and natural resources. Home gardens are usually diverse and contain a rich composition of plant and animal species. Hence they make interesting cases for ethnobotanical studies

Source: The Hindu