Abstract:
Home gardening is encouraged with the Objective of enhancing of the family nutrition
during last decades. This study evaluates 100 home gardens in Neluwa DS division in
Gafle district conducted under UNDP-AGSL program with the assistance of the
Ministry of Health. Selected home gardens were evaluated using 21 criteria
developed by the Department of Agriculture, Sri Lanka and each aspect was
evaluated using a scale of 0 (not achieved) to 5 (excellent). Information of
households were gathered through a questionnaire survey and field evaluation of
home gardens done through a direct observation and records. Descriptive statistics,
‘t’ test and Chi-square test were employed to test the relationships between
variables. It was revealed that home gardening has supported to provide a part of
family nutrition ranging from 10% to 90% while supplementing the family income
in Neluwa area irrespective to the size of the home gardens. The study found that
young mothers with the children of less than five years are more successful in home
gardening as they are spending more time at their homes to take care of the children.
Education level and employment of house wives have no significant relationships
with the home gardening activities. Main obstacles of home gardening activities
were absence of seeds of improved varieties, lack of technical know how, absence
of sufficient time and discouragements.
