EEI, Hyderabad organized online certificate course on “Fruit and Vegetable Terrace Gardening

EEI, Hyderabad has organized an Online Certificate Course on “Fruit and Vegetable Terrace Gardening” for the beginners in Telugu language from 16th to 18th December, 2021. The contents covered in this program are importance of terrace gardening, cultivation of creeping vegetables under terrace gardening, do’s and don’ts for the beginners in terrace gardening, techniques of seed production in terrace gardening, preparation of organic solutions, pruning and techniques of pollination, nutrient management in terrace gardening, nutri sensitive terrace gardening, space optimization for fruit and vegetable cultivation in terrace gardening, cultivation of fruit plants in terrace gardening, integrated pest management in terrace gardening, cultivation of vegetables in terrace gardening, techniques of growing fruits and vegetables with low cost in terrace gardening by using kitchen waste. During the inauguration, Dr.V.Sudha Rani, Director of Extension, PJTSAU as a Chief Guest interacted with the trainees about the at-most need of terrace gardening during the situations like COVID-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, Dr.M.Jagan Mohan Reddy, Director, EEI emphasized the trainees to cultivate the habit of growing trees in their backyard and plants in terrace, which not only gives a healthy life that may not be obtained through any means. The virtual real time demonstrations were conducted in the training as follows: include preparation of Vermi compost and aerobic composting in homes, preparation of citrus peel extract for good plant growth, preparation of pandals and staking for cucurbitaceous vines, Method of preparation of universal soil mix and pot filling procedure, preparation of bio pesticides, preparation of rich compost from kitchen waste. The Scientists from PJTSAU and Horticultural University handled the sessions along with successful terrace gardening practitioners. The trainees interacted with the speakers and cleared their doubts, some posted the photos and videos of their infected plants in the what’s app and chat box and got clarification for their problems. During the valedictory session excellent feedback was obtained and the trainees expressed their complete satisfaction by expressing that ‘after school days they are sitting in this class room only continuously with their own willingness’. Most of the participants requested the organisers to initiate an advance course in which they are interested to enrol. The Course Coordinators of this online certificate course are Dr. R. Vasantha, Professor, EEI and Dr. P. Vijaya Lakshmi, Professor, EEI. A total of 41 participants representing various professions (home makers, doctors, students, retired government employees etc) from two Telugu states i.e., Telangana and Andhra Pradesh have attended the certificate course.