PREPARATIONS FOR GREENHOUSE CULTIVATION - NEW AGRICULTURE

Half a decade has passed after the launch of a new type of agriculture namely Greenhouse or Polyhouse or Conservative or Hi-Tech agriculture. This technique of agriculture is now spreading all over the world even if the investment in this type of agriculture, which requires more attention and care, is huge.

Advantages of Greenhouse technique:

1. Conducting agriculture without fear of climatic changes.

2. Maximum production from minimum land.

3. Increased pest control.

4. Minimum human resource inputs.

THINGS TO REMEMBER WHILE INSTALLING GREENHOUSE TECHNIQUE:

1. Make a visit to the existing Greenhouses and understand the way in which it functions. Investigate the experiences of Greenhouse owners.

2. Ascertain appropriate land facility for launching Greenhouse.

3. Transportation facility should be available. Also, the land should be at least 500 meters away from the road. It is not advisable to select complete rural areas for this purpose.

4. Also, the land should be without large investment and with good irrigation facility and electricity.

5. Availability of organic fertilizers should also be assured.

6. It is advisable to ascertain the market before launching the Greenhouse technique as searching for markets after initiating production may lead to huge loss.

7. It is best to start small Greenhouses of length 20 sq. meter at first as an experiment.

8. It would be great if the Greenhouse is launched as a joint venture than an individual undertaking.

9. In many countries, Greenhouse is in experimental stage. So extreme climatic conditions may sometimes affect agriculture badly and the people who can face it are advised to start it.

10. Foggers should be installed in hot places.

11. It is advisable to collect High-Yielding Variety (HYV) seeds for cultivation than using traditional seeds.

12. All items cannot be cultivated in Greenhouse technique. Only plants that self pollinate are more advisable.

13. Some of the crop items that are widely cultivated using Greenhouse technique are Capsicum, Salad Cucumber, Yardlong Bean, Chili, Ladyfinger, and Tomato.

14. Leafy items like Spinach, Moringa Oleifera, etc. are most advisable for Greenhouse type cultivation. This will not be profitable when considering production cost.

15. It is necessary to get advice and instructions from an Agronomist about Greenhouse cultivation. The service of an Agronomist is essential in every phase of Greenhouse cultivation from selecting the Greenhouse building place to the time of harvest.

16. Many companies are available today that claims to install Greenhouses and to give advices and instructions on cultivation using Greenhouse technique, but most of them won’t be having even adequate experience in this field. So, before getting into contract with any of these companies, inquire those people for whom these companies have made Greenhouses in the past.

17. Even if the major medium for growing plants in a Greenhouse is always soil, Coir Fibre Pith or Coco Peat compost is also used instead of soil as disease causing germs or pathogenic fungi won’t grow in these composts. Sterilized Coir Fibre Pith is now available in markets. Studies show that Coir Fibre Pith is the more advisable medium to get more yields from crops and cultivate many times using same medium.

Greenhouse technique should not be undertaken based on just hearsay, as it is a technique which can incur huge losses and has many shortcomings. So Greenhouse technique should be adopted after hearing from the experiences of farmers doing Greenhouse techniques, learning the farming techniques directly from them, and after getting expert training on this.