Title

Midline assessment of agroecological intervention on anaemia and diet diversity in Andhra Pradesh, India

Authors

Lakshmi Durga Ch^1,*, Arti Gupta^2,*, Vishnu Rajan³, Pulla Sirisha², Srilekha Yebushi¹, P. Ashalatha¹, Vijayalakshmi Chekka¹, Kalaiselvan Ganapathy², Rajeev Aravindakshan², B. Venkatashiva Reddy² & T Vijay Kumar¹

Affiliation

¹Department of Health and Nutrition, Rythu Sadhikara Samstha (RySS), Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, India; ²Department of Community and Family Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Mangalagiri, Andhra Pradesh, India; ³Department of Community Medicine, MES Medical College, Perinthalmanna, Kerala, India; *Corresponding author

Email

Lakshmi Durga Ch - E-mail: lakshmidurga@ryss.ap.gov.in
Arti Gupta - E-mail: guptaarti2003@aiimsmangalagiri.edu.in
Vishnu Rajan - E-mail: vishnurchaithram@gmail.com
Pulla Sirisha - E-mail: pulla.sirisha6291@gmail.com
Srilekha Yebushi - E-mail: srilekha.ryss@gmail.com
P. Ashalatha - E-mail: ashalatha.ryss@gmail.com
Vijayalakshmi Chekka - E-mail: Ram.vijji4@gmail.com
Kalaiselvan Ganapathy - E-mail: kalaiselvidr@gmail.com
Rajeev Aravindakshan - E-mail: rajeev.a@aiimsmangalagiri.edu.in
B. Venkatashiva Reddy - E-mail: drshiva222@gmail.com
T. Vijay Kumar - E-mail: vjthallam@gmail.com

Article Type

Research Article

Date

Received August 1, 2026; Revised August 31, 2026; Accepted August 31, 2026, Published August 31, 2026

Abstract

The Homestead Food Production (HSFP) program in Andhra Pradesh addresses rural food insecurity and malnutrition through natural farming and health and nutrition (H&N) interventions. This midline assessment, conducted in 2024, covered 227 villages and 23,749 participants, with 110 villages in the Andhra Pradesh Community Managed Natural Farming (APCNF) plus Health and Nutrition group and 117 villages in the Model Mandal group (control). The intervention group showed significantly lower anaemia prevalence among women of reproductive age, children under five and adolescents compared to the Model Mandal group. Dietary diversity was higher in the intervention villages, with a mean score of 5.70. Thus, continued multisectoral interventions in agriculture, nutrition education and health are needed to further reduce malnutrition among vulnerable populations.

Keywords

Community based natural farming, anemia, diet diversity, IYCF practices, homestead food production (HSFP)

Citation

Durga Ch et al. Bioinformation 22(8): 4766-4776 (2026)

Edited by

P Kangueane

ISSN

0973-2063

Publisher

Biomedical Informatics

License

This is an Open Access article which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. This is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.