Activities within the grant and impact:
Vegetable cultivation is considered one of the major sources of food security and income generation among the rural community. The ever-increasing demand for vegetables has to be systematically met. This would be achieved only by promoting better cultivation mechanisms within the rural areas.

It has been seen that vegetable cultivation is one of the best options for providing additional income to small and marginal landholders. The overall goal of the partnership is to enhance livelihoods in rural areas of Punjab by providing scientific knowledge to the farming community for promoting and enhancing vegetable cultivation, thereby leading to rise in income, and improved dietary habits.

The project is divided into two sub-projects, namely:

	Safer vegetable production, where the main aim is to enhance safe, commercial vegetable production, besides propagating the growth of vegetables as cash crops
	Promoting home gardens for diet diversification and better health

The key activities include:

	Transfer of Integrated Pest Management technologies to farmers
	Demonstration of quality seeds to the farmers for better crop productivity
	Promoting local agriculture resource persons through technical training inputs
	Promotion of various vegetable varieties suitable to the field sites
	Developing better market strategies for better market prices for vegetables
	Promotion of year-round home garden plots for better nutritional diets for households
	Formation of community-based training centres for skill promotion and technical knowledge development

The first sub-project is expected to directly target 90 villages in Punjab with a total number of 900 target households per annum. At an average household size of 5.5, the project will directly target close to 5,000 people. It is expected that each household would earn an additional income of approximately Rs5,000 to Rs8,000/annum in Punjab.

Apart from the direct benefits in terms of increased incomes, the households would also be able to get round the year nutrient-rich vegetables for consumption, thus improving their health. In addition, off-farm employment will be generated from expanded agricultural business activities.