If polyhouse farming has made a mark in the agricultural sector of Kozhikode, the credit goes to the Centre for Water Resources Development and Management (CWRDM), which has made the farming method popular among farmers. A polyhouse demonstration farm set up by the training and education wing of the CWRDM on the CWRDM campus in 2012 is the most reliable source of knowledge on hi-tech farming.
“When I came to know that adequate training programmes in polyhouse farming was minimal in the district, I took the risk of setting up one in a five cent plot to experiment its scope in our soil,” says head of the training and education wing, Kamalam Joseph.
To her surprise, compared to the yield of the traditional farming method, without much effort, they started receiving a good yield. The advantage of a polyhouse, a tunnel-like structure made of polyethylene, is the scope of cultivation even in the monsoon season.
Since the polyhouse is equipped with facilities such as drip irrigation with fertigation, fogger, improved medium of soil for better plant growth and paired rows for cultivation, there is no need to appoint more labourers to maintain the farm. While explaining more on the method, officials with the Department of Agriculture say there are mainly four types of polyhouse models: Quonset-shaped with one side ventilation, gable-shaped greenhouse with roof ventilation on one side, multi-span greenhouse and greenhouse structure suitable for high humid areas.
“Any crop can be raised, irrespective of external factors like climate,” says Kamalam. Salad cucumber, long beans, Chinese cabbage, Indian cabbage, celery, green chilli and marrow have been raised on the CWRDM campus.
According to her, cultivation of long beans and cucumber is profitable as there is a high demand for these vegetables in the markets here. While admitting that large-area polyhouse farming can only be commercially viable for farmers, she says instead of trying out mixed crops it would be better for farmers to go for a single crop to meet the requirements of the market.
“Now there are takers among youths for polyhouse farming as it is innovative and lucrative. Common crops as well as high-yielding cash crops can also be tried out in the farm,” says technical officer Jayaprasad. Any farm enthusiast who wishes to know more about this farming technique can visit the demonstration farm.
This article was published in The New Indian Express newspaper-15/08/2014)
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