Protected farming technique catches on in desert state

Jaipur: Narendra Kiryade is a proud man. Villagers in Rajasthan's Khajuwala will vouch for the amazing transformation on his 60-acre farm after he put up a green house.

Six months ago, Kiryade was sent on a government-sponsored trip to learn "protected farming". The results are now for all to see. He's just finished sowing the first crop of Lilliputian tomatoes, the size of cherries.

The tomato variety was the fruit of a protected farming experiment at the Rajasthan Agriculture University in Bikaner, a desert district. Horticulturists at the institution cultivated high-value-crops in protected poly-houses and found the results highly encouraging. They reckoned that farmers producing similar crops would not only get higher prices for their produce but also offer customers a more healthy vegetable.

The nursery at the university, bursting with cherry tomatoes, seedless cucumber, and capsicum, generally a winter crop, bears testimony to the success of the experiment.

Indra Mohan Verma, the nursery in-charge, is ecstatic: "We want to proclaim to farmers in the state and especially those in desert areas that this innovative technique offers them the best price for their harvest. The cherry tomato, for instance, is selling for Rs40 (Dh3.4) a kilo and is a favourite among medical doctors who put lot of premium on hygiene."

Verma says protected farming provides for better utilisation of sunlight and higher accumulation of carbon dioxide (CO2) available in the protected environment, resulting in bumper crops. The crops are also organic in nature and there chances of the weather playing spoilsport are also eliminated.

Drip irrigation ensures optimal use of water - only the root zone of saplings are watered.

Rajasthan Agriculture University Vice-Chancellor Pratap Narayan agrees that protected cultivation gives farmers an assured crop. "In open conditions, factors like temperature and wind velocity can often damage crops but in a controlled situation there is no risk."

The university is now trying to get more farmers to follow in the footsteps of Narendra Kiryade.

Verma has been getting queries from farmers on a daily basis and is planning to hold a workshop for cultivators from nearby areas. "We will provide them the technical know-how and are ready to demonstrate how it works in their fields," he said.

The state government, keen that farmers should adopt the new technique, is offering subsidies of up to 75 per cent to those willing to follow up. Farmers need to make a one-time investment of Rs600 per square metre for erecting the infrastructure - it lasts them for at least a decade and they only need to invest in seeds thereafter.