Greenhouse Farming-Future Technology in Indian Agriculture

Greenhouse or Poly house farming is a modern farming technology which is the future hope for farmers in India.Over past 20 years,Many researches happened on how greenhouse technology can improve Vegetable,flowers and Crop production in India and now a dozen of companies are doing their businesses in Greenhouse cultivation field.Lots of young farmers realized the possibility of Greenhouse farming,learned how to do greenhouse farming and are willing to invest more in various fields of Greenhouse farming like Vegetable cultivation,fruit farming,flower farming etc. Yes,Greenhouse farming technology made farming a 'complete business opportunity'.Now lets have a detailed analysis of this technology.

Here we are analysing

• What is Greenhouse and Greenhouse farming.
• Advantages of Greenhouse farming.
• Disadvantages of Greenhouse farming.
• Scope of Greenhouse/Poly house farming in India.
• Subsidy by various governments for Greenhouse farming.
• Scams associated with Greenhouse farming.

With the help of Greenhouse technology,Kerala  Government was able to promote Vegetable farming to a large extend within the state.They almost doubled vegetable production this year(2015) compared to 2014.Farmers also earned very well and the People are getting benefited by enjoying pesticide free Organic Products.This is what expected from agricultural sector.The farming should be profitable,but at the same time the products should be harmless,High quality and pesticide free.People should be able to enjoy the benefits of new technologies,that is what exactly Greenhouse farming technology does.

What is Greenhouse farming?

Greenhouse Farming is Farming inside a shelter called Greenhouse.This Greenhouse shelter isolates environment inside the Greenhouse from external environment.It can be partial isolation also.The main objective is to provide a favourable environment to the plants and provide protection.Various issues like Pests,Animal attack,diseases,sunburn etc can be avoided by Greenhouse farming.A high- tech Greenhouse requires Lots of Money to construct,but we can also build our own cheap green house.Poly house Greenhouses are most common in India.In old days,the main use of greenhouses were to protect plants from extreme weather conditions.But now Greenhouses are incorporated with various technologies like automatic temperature controlling systems,drip irrigation systems etc to comprise a complete artificial farming environment.The main importance of this technology is that one can grow any plant at any time(Based on market requirement) at any place by providing suitable environmental conditions inside the green house.As the chance of attack of pests are zero inside the Greenhouse,the products are pesticide free.

What is a Greenhouse

Greenhouses are framed or inflated structures covered with transparent materials large enough to grow plants under partial or fully controlled environmental conditions to get optimum growth and productivity.

Advantages of Greenhouse Technology

• Protection from Heavy wind and Rain. Poly Greehouse protection is very helpful in High wind areas especially Hillside areas.
• High Quality agricultural products.The products are at it topmost quality as the atmosphere is highly favourable inside Greenhouse. 
• Production volume increases more than 20 times than normal production.
• Off-seasonal production possible.
• Disease and pests attacks minimum.As the Poly Greenhouse is fully covered and isolated from external environment,zero chances of pest attack.
• Production of Organic products free from Pesticides and Insecticides.
• Latest technologies can be incorporated to get maximum benefits.
• Plant growth rate and lifespan very high.
• Considering overall performance,it is very cost effective.
• Modern technologies like Hydroponic farming can be applied with this technology for better farming experience.
• Pesticide free Products

Disadvantages of Greenhouse technology

• Initial cost is very High
• Maintenance cost high
• Knowledge of various factors required to effectively control climate inside the Greenhouse.

Scope of Greenhouse farming is very huge.Various leafy greens,spinach and Micro greens which are used in Salads are cultivated inside Greenhouses.Greenhouse tomato farming and Greenhouse Cucumber farming are very popular and profitable.Pepper farming like Capsicum and Greenhouse Chilli farming are gaining more popularity and profit.Fruits like Grapes,strawberries,peaches are also farmed inside Greenhouses.Greenhouse flower farming also having large scope.Commercialized Greenhouse farming of Gerbera and Roses are proven to be successful in many parts of India.For consuming pesticide free Vegetables,Many people started to farm vegetables in their terrace,which is one of the greatest application of Greenhouse technology.

Various State Governments like Kerala,Tamilnadu ,Andra Pradesh are giving Subsidy to encourage Greenhouse farming.Apart from the State government subsidy,Central Government also providing Subsidy for Greenhouse farming.You can get in touch with your local Agricultural agencies for getting more details as the subsidy varies from state to state.Agencies like Krishi Vigyan Kendra,Krishibhavan,National horticulture board can give you more details and training.

Beware of the fake consultants and Agencies working in this field to loot money from farmers.They will collect your money by offering consultancy services and construction of Greenhouses.If you don't have enough knowledge in this field,you will end up will unnecessary expenses.To avoid such issues,you should get proper training from Government agencies before starting greenhouse farming.Investigate more details about the consultancies before approaching them.

  In a country like India,where most of the agricultural practices are depending on seasonal weather conditions,Greenhouse farming got a lot of scope.By effectively utilizing this technology,we can reduce our dependency on external factors and concentrate more on productivity.Your suggestions are very much appreciated.I hope Greenhouse technology can stimulate another Green revolution in India.What do you think?

Related Posts

• Recent changes made by Greenhouse technology in Indian farming sector
• Greenhouse Farming in Monsoon Season
• Why some Greenhouse/Poly house farms not succeed in India-Know before Investing
• Polyhouse farming information.