Delhi government will tie up with the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) for imparting special training to people for growing fruits and vegetables for self-consumption and as an entrepreneurial venture under its Smart Urban Farming Initiative, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Wednesday. 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.
Under Smart Urban Farming Initiative, Delhi Government will train people for growing fruits and vegetables for both self-consumption and as an entrepreneurship venture. Smart Urban Farming will emerge as a unique solution to generate employment in Delhi," he said during a digital media briefing.
The chief minister said experts will be hired at a large scale under the scheme and the government will tie up with IARI for imparting special training. "Nearly 400 awareness workshops and 600 entrepreneurship training programs will be organized across Delhi under the initiative. We hope that about 25,000 families in the national capital will benefit from the Smart Urban Farming Initiative in its first year," he stressed.
Kejriwal said that they had announced the urban farming initiative in the state budget. Noting that urban farming is a unique project where people from all walks of life can start small-scale farming of fruits and vegetables within the confines of their balconies and terraces, he said that the government will support urban farmers with seeds and other essentials.
The initiative has been divided into two major components. First, those who want to grow fruits and vegetables for self-sustenance and consumption. Such people will get high-quality, organic vegetables in the comfort of their household and save money on shopping for groceries. Second, those who want to make a business out of this. This will help many residents and especially housewives gain extra income through this source. It will act as an employment opportunity for them," he said. The government said that it will rapidly promote "green jobs" in the national capital in the coming times.
"Delhi will witness a sharp rise in its green cover under the Smart Urban Farming Initiative and public participation will help take the movement forward," said a statement from the government.
The scheme shall consist of awareness workshops and entrepreneurship training programs. Awareness workshops shall be done in collaboration with IARI. These will include two-day master trainer workshops and 400 hands-on workshops of 25 participants at a ward level facilitated by master trainers across Delhi. The project will also provide post-workshop support through weekly online sessions to clarify the doubts and discuss the queries of the citizens. Forty master trainers and 10,000 people will be trained under this initiative.
The entrepreneurship training program will be undertaken by industry partners. As many as 600 workshops of 25 participants each shall be conducted across Delhi aimed at Urban Farming Cluster Development. About 15,000 training workshops will be conducted on a cluster basis, the statement said.
