Every September in India, National Nutrition Month India (Rashtriya Poshan Maah) mobilizes the nation to deepen awareness about nutrition, health, and well-being. In Nutrition Month India 2025, Poshan Maah embraces a powerful theme: “Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam”– literally, “One Tree in Mother’s Name.” This theme does more than just call for planting trees; it connects our nourishment, environment, and respect for mothers into one movement. Let’s explore why this theme matters, how it works, and how it can strengthen both people and the planet.
The Significance of the Theme
“Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam” ties together several threads:
- Honouring Mothers & Mother Earth: As we honour mothers for nurturing life, the campaign reminds us that Mother Earth is likewise our ultimate nurturer providing air, water, soil, and food. Planting a tree in someone’s mother’s name becomes a symbolic act of gratitude—both personal and ecological.
- Nutrition & Environment are Interlinked: Healthy nutrition depends on healthy natural systems like clean air, fertile soil, water, and biodiversity. Trees help maintain soil health, regulate the microclimate, filter pollution, sustain water cycles, and even contribute to food security (through fruit trees, for example). Thus, environmental health supports overall health, including nutritional health.
- Building Awareness & Sustained Action: With climate change, deforestation, pollution, and degradation threatening our natural systems, raising public awareness is essential. However, awareness must be accompanied by actions such as planting trees, protecting green cover, and choosing sustainable foods.
- Emotional Connection: The “in Mother’s name” aspect gives a personal, emotional anchor. It transforms tree planting from a generic act into something meaningful—memories, tribute, a gift. This encourages sustained care for planted trees, not just act and forget.
Poshan Maah 2025: How “Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam” Fits In
Poshan Maah is not just about distributing food or supplements it is about creating environments where children, mothers, and communities can thrive. Rashtriya Poshan Maah 2025 has several interrelated themes; among them, ‘Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam’ adds an environmental dimension.
Key integrations include:
- Tree Plantation Drives: Across villages, towns, government offices, schools, Anganwadi nutrition program centers, and other locations, people are encouraged to plant native trees or fruit trees “in their mother’s name” or in honor of Mother Earth.
- Survival & Nurture: The drive is not simply about planting, but also about ensuring trees survive protection, watering, monitoring, and choosing indigenous saplings.
- Linking Nutrition & Gardens: Many plantation drives include fruit-bearing trees, kitchen gardens, and nutrition gardens. These contribute not only to environmental benefits but also provide nutrition, including fresh fruits, leafy greens, and more. The idea is that the environment supports food diversity, which aligns with the benefits of the PM Poshan Scheme and the Mid-Day Meal Scheme.
- Awareness Campaigns: Messages promoting nutritious diets often emphasize sustainable practices, reducing food waste, encouraging local foods, reducing dependence on chemical fertilizers or pesticides, planting trees to reduce heat, improving soil moisture, etc. “Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam” becomes a reminder of our collective responsibility.
Potential Impact & Benefits
“Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam” under Poshan Maah 2025 has potential benefits in several dimensions:
- Environmental Benefits:
- More green cover → better air quality, mitigation of urban heat islands.
- Trees aid soil retention, reduce erosion, and enhance groundwater recharge.
- Biodiversity improvement occurs when indigenous species are planted.
- Carbon sequestration, though small per tree, in aggregate contributes to climate goals.
2. Nutrition & Health Benefits:
- Fruit trees or nutrition gardens contribute directly to dietary diversity.
- Shaded trees around homes and schools can reduce heat stress, making living/study environments more comfortable.
- Cleaner air and moderated temperatures help reduce respiratory illnesses and heat stress, contributing to overall health.
3. Social & Educational Benefits:
- Involving communities (especially mothers, children, and schools) in the plantation connects people to nature, builds care, and responsibility.
- Creates an opportunity to educate about the environment, food systems, nutrition, and education in India in schools and communities.
- Emotional engagement (doing something in a mother’s name) helps in maintaining a sense of ownership.
4. Behaviour Change & Sustainability:
- It encourages long-term habits: caring for planted trees, adopting more sustainable lifestyles (e.g., planting native species, water conservation).
- It strengthens the link between community well-being, environment, and nutrition.
Challenges & Considerations
For this theme to truly succeed, several challenges need to be addressed:
- Survival of Saplings: Planting is easy; ensuring that the sapling survives months/years is harder. Without maintenance, watering, protection from grazing, etc., many saplings die.
- Choice of Tree Species: Non-native versus native species: native species tend to adapt better and support local ecology. Fruit-bearing species might cost more or need more care.
- Community Involvement & Ownership: For trees to be nurtured, local communities (especially mothers, children) must be involved, not just government or institutions.
- Integration with Nutrition Programs: Combining environmental actions with nutrition messages, kitchen gardens, etc., needs coordination—for example, linking with Poshan Maah activities, Anganwadi centres, and schools.
- Sustainability Over Time: The theme needs more than a one-month effort. Trees need years of care, possibly policy support, institutionalizing plantation drives as chores, not one-off events.
How Individuals & Communities Can Participate
If you want to contribute, here are practical ways to take the “Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam” theme forward:
- Plant a Tree in Mother’s Name: Plant a sapling in honour of your mother/someone’s mother. Label it, take responsibility.
- Participate Locally: Join or organize plantation drives around your school, Anganwadi nutrition program centre, or your neighbourhood.
- Start/Support Nutrition Gardens: Grow vegetables, fruits in home gardens, school gardens. Combining tree-planting with edible plants multiplies benefits and complements the PM Poshan Scheme.
- Awareness & Education: Share stories, campaigns, social media, and school programs about the link between trees, environment, nutrition, and education in India.
- Ensure Care & Survival: Watering, protecting from animals, mulching, pruning—basic care ensures that the planted trees grow.
- Advocate & Engage: Seek support from local panchayats, schools, and local government bodies to get spaces, resources, and policies to maintain plantations.
Conclusion
Rashtriya Poshan Maah, celebrated as National Nutrition Month India, is more than providing food or supplements. Its goal is a Suposhit Bharat, a well-nourished, healthy, resilient India. “Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam” adds an essential dimension: environmental sustainability, emotional connection, and recognition that our health is inseparable from the planet’s health.
If each person plants a tree in their mother’s name, cares for it, and sees the sapling grow, the result is more than green cover; it is a movement of care, gratitude, and responsibility. In the leaves, roots, shade, and fruit of those trees lie nourishment for bodies and souls.
In honouring mothers and Mother Earth, we nourish not just ourselves—but future generations. Let Poshan Maah 2025 be remembered not just for the trees planted, but for the lives touched planting hope, one tree, one mother, one child at a time.
