The newly recruited Child Development Project Officers (CDPOs) of ICDS, Department of Social Welfare, Government of Tamil Nadu, received orientation on ‘Establishment and maintenance of Nutrition Garden’ from M S Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) on April 18, 2023 in Chennai. This half-day orientation was attended by 20 CDPOs representing 15 districts.

Dr G N Hariharan, Executive Director -MSSRF, delivered the opening remarks and discussed the concept of a food-based approach to address malnutrition. He also emphasised the value of nutrition gardens in food-based approaches and the lessons learned by MSSRF.

The experiences of setting up school and Anganwadi nutrition gardens through the convergence method in Koraput district of Odisha, Purnea district of Bihar, and Ramanathapuram District of Tamil Nadu were highlighted by Dr R. Gopinath, Principal Scientist – Ecotechnology, MSSRF. His presentation also discussed CDPOs’ significant role in the development of nutrition gardens at the block level.

After the event, all participants visited the nutrition garden established within MSSRF premises.