Process of Urban Farming Project Begins, Delhi Govt. to Hire 40 Master Trainers
Nursery Today Desk
New Delhi: The Forest and Wildlife department of Delhi Government plans to train 10,000 people through 400 workshops under the Urban Farming project for which it has started the process of hiring 40 master trainers to conduct workshops on urban farming at the ward level.
Delhi government had already announced the Urban Farming project in the Rozgar Budget last year, but got delayed. Now, in September the project will be launched by the Forest Department.
400 workshops are planning to be conducted in the next few months starting from September with at least 25 participants in each workshop. The master trainers will be given an honorarium of Rs. 2,000 per session. Locals and members from Resident Welfare Association (RWA) will be trained in the workshops. They will be taught to grow different vegetables and fruits on their roofs and balconies using techniques such as hydroponic, aeroponic or container farming according the officials.
First of all, Mahatma Gandhi Institute for Combating Climate Change (MGICCC) of the Delhi government will organise a two-day master workshop to impart training to the master trainers.
Environment Minister Gopal Rai had said earlier, “As the land available for plantation purposes reduces in future, urban farming plays an important role as it provides an option to people to grow crops on their rooftop and balcony.
GV Ramanjaneyulu, executive director at the Centre for Sustainable Agriculture in Hyderabad, said,” Depending on the area available, one can opt for the type of vegetable they wish to grow. Leafy vegetables are the easiest and one can easily grow tomatoes, brinjals or chillis as they are hardy plants.”
“People will be trained for manure and soil preparation, seed selection, garden maintenance, site section for plant species, etc. A kit comprising seasonal vegetable and flower seeds will be given to each participant and there will be follow-up sessions to support the participants”, explained another official.
“The environment department, in collaboration with various industry partners will also conduct the entrepreneurship training programme to raise citizen’s awareness about urban farming and increase the opportunity of green jobs by training youth and women in urban farming, maintenance of urban farming infrastructure, marketing, etc.” added an official.
Applications are open and those interested can apply on https://training.eforest.delhi.gov.in/msby.aspx Only those who have undergraduate degree in the science stream and is able to communicate in both Hindi and English can apply for the workshops.
