How Odisha’s organic nutri-gardens are improving health and incomes

For Tuna Paroja and his family in Chikima village of Odisha’s tribal-dominated Koraput district, rice and mandia jau (an indigenous millet porridge) were the staple diet for years. Sometimes, sag (green leafy vegetables) and yams collected from the wild would add to the family’s meals.

As a result, his family, belonging to the Paroja tribe, suffered from malnutrition and low immunity. Worried about their health, Tuna started a nutrition garden close to his house in 2021.

“Earlier, we mostly had indigenous paddy ‘tikkahaladi’ and ‘ragi’ (finger millet) that we grew over 1.5 acres. Now we consume papaya, banana, bitter gourd, bottle gourds, brinjals, and other fruits and vegetables cultivated in our nutri-garden spread over 5 cent (0.05 acre),” Tuna tells 30Stades.

Tuna and his family have benefitted from a project to improve dietary diversity led by Jeypore-based MS Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) in the Koraput district. MSSRF trained him to maintain the nutri-garden and also provided free seeds and saplings of fruits and vegetables.

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“The sale of surplus fruits and vegetables from our nutri-garden brings us additional annual income of Rs 7,000. We also sell surplus paddy and millet cultivated on 1.5 acres. That brings in another Rs 42,000 annually,” he says.

Nutri-gardens, comprising five to seven beds each, cost around Rs 550 each and are home to 15 to 20 varieties of fruits and vegetables.

For example, if one bed has crops rich in Vitamin A, such as papaya, ST-14 sweet potatoes, and carrots, the other has Vitamin C-rich fruits like lemons, guava, and custard apples.

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Nutri-gardens to fight malnutrition

Tanka Chhendia, another Paroja tribal from the Machhra village of Koraput, says he saves Rs 2,000 per month that was otherwise spent on buying vegetables.

He also grows leafy greens, fruits, and other vegetables on 5 cents of land. “My success has motivated 25 out of over 350 families in my village to start nutria gardens,” says Tanka.

“I grow banana, moringa, gourds, leafy greens like ‘leutia’ and ‘khada’, and other vegetables depending on the season,” he adds.

Like Tuna and Tanka, around 2,000 tribals of Paroja, Bhumia, Kondh, and Gadaba communities in 34 villages under Koraput, Kundra, and Boipariguda blocks have raised nutri-gardens near homes.

Started in 2021 by MSSRF with technical support from Sunabeda-based Indian Institute of Soil and Water Conservation (IISWC), the project has motivated tribals to raise nutri-gardens in small areas ranging from 2 to 5 cents.

There was widespread malnutrition in the district earlier.

According to a survey by MSSRF, 40 percent of tribal children under the age of five had stunted growth, while 44 percent were underweight.

Similarly, 71 percent of children in the age group of 6-59 months had anaemia, while 61 percent of pregnant women and 63 percent of non-pregnant women had anaemia.

To rectify this, the Science for Equity Empowerment Division under the Union Ministry of Science & Technology provided Rs 11 lakh financial assistance in the project mode, and roped in MSSRF to motivate the beneficiaries to raise nutri-gardens.

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The project was implemented under STI-HUB (Science Technology Innovation Hub): Up-scaling sustainable technological solutions and replicable models for ensuring food & nutrition, livelihood, and social security of Scheduled Tribes in selected Gram Panchayats in Koraput district.

How are organic nutri-gardens grown?

“We have also helped raise nutri-gardens on the premises of 25 schools and in 33 centres of Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) under the state government. Items prepared from fruits and vegetables can be served to students in their mid-day meal,” says MSSRF Director Prashant Kumar Parida.

The gardens are maintained using only organic inputs.

“We advise beneficiaries to use only bio-inputs like ‘Handi Khata’, a traditional mix of jaggery, cow dung, cow urine, and chopped arakha, karanja, and neem leaves. They act as pest repellents and fertilisers,” says Dr Kartik Charan Lenka, a senior scientist at MSSRF.

“Similarly, we tell them to use natural pesticides like ‘Neemastra’, a fermented liquid mixture of cow dung, cow urine, and crushed neem leaves,” adds Dr Lenka.

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“We have raised a genetic garden on our institute’s campus that has 92 species representing 200 varieties of bio-fortified fruits, vegetables, and crop plants in its 12 sections. We have also set up a central seed bank. The genetic garden and seed bank help those who opt for nutri-gardens,” Dr Lenka says.

Before gardens were raised, MSSRF and IISWC jointly created mass awareness campaigns, particularly on World Nutrition Day (May 28), during National Nutrition Week (1 to 7 September), and National Nutrition Month (March).

“We trained beneficiaries in a phased manner on package practices that included methods of organic farming, selection of seeds and saplings during a particular season, and quantitative uses of traditional manure and crop repellents,” says Dr Jyotirmayee Lenka, an IISWC scientist.

“We not only highlighted the benefits of nutri-gardens, but also prevailed upon beneficiaries to consume the produce that could help scale up their nutrition level,” she adds.

Beneficiaries, who earn around Rs 40,000 to Rs 50,000 annually from paddy, maize and millet farming, were reluctant to start nutri-gardens, finding them unconventional. To overcome this bottleneck, MSSRF and IISWC trained ‘community change makers’ to persuade them.

“Now 32 households out of nearly 35 in my village have nutri-gardens,” says ‘community change maker’ Ashmita Pujari, a Bhumia tribal in Murja village under Boipariguda block.

“I guide them about vegetable farming, which I learnt during my training,” adds Ashmita, who has her own nutri-garden over 5 cents. 

The impact

Nutrition gardens have significantly improved both health and livelihoods among beneficiaries and their families. Two interim surveys in 2023 and 2025 have documented positive shifts in dietary habits and income.

Research Assistant Haraprabha Sahu of Bhubaneswar-based Regional Medical Research Centre (RMRC) conducted the first interim survey. Aditi Jana, now the district coordinator of Sundargarh-based Mamata Health Institute for Mother and Child, undertook a survey in 2025 on behalf of Bhubaneswar-based NGO Piramal Foundation during her internship.

Haraprabha surveyed over 300 households in Kundra, Koraput, and Boipariguda blocks in October and November 2O23. On the other hand, Aditi surveyed 50 families in the Kundra block during February-March 2025.  

“During my ‘24 Hour Recall Dietary Diversity Survey’ (HRDDS), I found that consumption of different vegetables and fruits by tribals having gardens registered an 87 percent increase compared to those without nutri-gardens,” says Haraprabha. HRDDS is the study of food consumption trends during the previous day.

Aditi threw light on tribals’ financial gain from the sale of surplus fruits and vegetables grown in nutri-gardens. The sale adds Rs 6,000 to Rs 10,000 every year to a family’s annual income, she adds.

(Niroj Ranjan Misra is a Cuttack-based freelance writer. He writes on rural and tribal life, social issues, art and culture, and sports.)

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