Delhi govt, IARI to provide training for urban farming from August

The Delhi government along with the Indian Agricultural Research Institute will provide training in urban farming to the citizens from August for growing fruit and vegetables for self-consumption and as an entrepreneurial venture.

Delhi Environment, Development, General Administration Minister Gopal Rai chaired a review meeting with environment department officials and Krishi Vigyan Kendra regarding the plan to promote urban farming, an official statement said on Friday.

Rai said that the training for smart urban farming will be given by experts of Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) and Delhi will witness a "sharp rise in its green cover" unde the Smart Urban Farming Initiative.

"Experts from Indian Agricultural Research Institute will start the training programme of Urban Farming in entire Delhi from August month onwards. 400 awareness workshops and 600 entrepreneurship training programmes will be organised across Delhi under the initiative," he said.

"We will conduct 400 hands-on workshops across Delhi and 600 entrepreneurship training programmes will be undertaken by industry partners," he said.

On June 29, the Delhi Cabinet approved the Smart Urban Farming Initiative, which will benefit nearly 25,000 families in the first year from the 1,000 workshops that will be conducted.