CHANDIGARH: The Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) has recommended setting up of kitchen gardens for every rural household, with an aim to improve the nutritional intake of women engaged in agriculture. There is an urgent need to break certain myths and taboos, which these women continue to carry about food.

The university has recommended 1000 to 1500 square metre plots for setting up these gardens, while its Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVK) have been entrusted the task of putting out demonstration yards where pulses, vegetables and fruits are grown.

The requirement for these kitchen gardens has also been reflected in a recent sample study of women engaged directly in agriculture, which has shown that they not only lack in knowledge about nutritional value of food but also lead a cloistered life due to perceived myths.

The study by a postgraduate student of Home Science Extension Education department of the Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Rukhsana, analysed the "nutritional knowledge and food myths'' among farm women, for which she selected the sample from the advanced Ludhiana as well as the remote Ferozepur districts.

The respondents were women from the large, medium and marginal categories of farmers' families. Majority of the respondents were in the age group of 25-35 years, mostly illiterate, vegetarian and lived in joint families.

Inferring that the findings from her study were just a "tip of the iceberg'', Ms Rukhsana, has stressed the need for a larger study to understand the issues in the proper perspective. Her study has recommended the need to educate farm women about food habits and importance of nutritional and balanced food.

Simultaneously, it was the responsibility of home scientists to break taboos and pre-conceived notions that go with food.

During the study, Ms Rukhsana found that about half the number of children below the age of four years were mal-nourished and 60 per cent women were anaemic.

This mal-nutrition was not due to poverty alone, but could be attributed to poor choice of food and lack of nutritional knowledge among farm women.

Most farm women from the grass root strata religiously followed the practice to meet the food needs of their spouses, elders, sick and their children, but often intended to ignore themselves. Even pregnant women were not on priority when it came to serve quality food.

However, the study indicated that women from larger farm families had a higher intake of vegetables. Also, farm women ensured equitable distribution of cereals, pulses, vegetables and milk every day to their pre-school children without any gender bias.

Interestingly, the women had their own taboos about certain food items, which was divided into the categories of "hot'', "cold'' and those which caused "gas'' in the abdomen. The "hot'' included maize, Bengal gram, black gram, meat, eggs and dry-fruits, while rice, wheat, green gram, curd, lassi, radish, cucumber and onion were "cold''. Black gram, curd, lassi, cauliflower and mustard caused "gas''.

These farm women believed that papaya and banana could cause abortions while fatty foods, during the last months of pregnancy, facilitated delivery.

To increase milk secretion, garlic and cumin seeds should be given to lactating mothers, while curd and lassi consumption should be avoided at night and infants should not be fed on these two milk products at all.

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