CPCT Tomato Seed GS-600

8/10/2019 CPCT Tomato Seed GS-600

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Success Stories

P ROTECTED C ULTIVATIONH ERALDING S UCCESS

Indian Society for Protected CultivationCentre for Protected Cultivation Technology (CPCT)

Indian Agricultural Research InstituteNew Delhi 110 012


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Compiled by:

Naved SabirBrahma Singh

2013 Indian Society of Protected Cultivation, New Delhi

Published by Indian Society of Protected Cultivation, New Delhi & Printed at Venus Printers and Publishers, B 62/8, Naraina Indl. Area, Phase-II, New Delhi - 28Ph.: 45576780, Mobile: 9810089097 E-mail: [email protected]


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Content

Preface v

1. DIHAR technologieslifeline for army and locals in Leh 1

2. In Jharkhand... Low pressure technology to make tribals cheerful 4

3. Greenhouse Capsicum: harbinger of prosperity 9

4. Arvind Beniwal: an icon for strawberry cultivation 11

5. Seedless cucumber for farmers prosperity 14

6. Potato minitubes to fulfil demand of potato seed tubers 16

7. Off-season summer squash fetches more 20

8. In Greenhouse... Tomato cultivation is lucurative 22

9. Protected cultivation to make hill farmers prosperous 24

10. Greenhouse vegetables: a boon to Uttarakhand farmers 27

11. Protected cultivation pays 30

12. Innovative Tirath Singh is a source of scientific awakening 32to vegetable growers

13. S. Devinder Singh made vegetable cultivation profitable 36

14. Balbir Singh Kamboj boosting agri-entrepreneurship 40


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Preface

SEEING is considered as believing goes the saying. Sharing the successputs others on the path of empowerment to enjoy the added returns fromnew and tested technology. The protected cultivation is a time- tested technologywhich is in an infancy state requiring urgent efforts for its adoption. One suchstep has been taken by the newly- established Indian Society for ProtectedCultivation , in 2102, by organizing a national seminar on Advances in

Protected Cultivation on 21 March 2013 at the A P Shinde Symposium Hall,NASC Complex, New Delhi. All stakeholders in protected cultivation woulddeliberate upon the status of protected cultivation technology in the countryand prepare a roadmap for its popularization among them.

On the eve of the Seminar, the organizers on the suggestion of Dr AnwarAlam, Vice-President of the Society, decided to bring out this publicationhaving a few success stories on protected cultivation from different parts of

the country. Due to paucity of time and efforts required to justify the job forquality presentation, the organizers could gather only more than a dozenexamples where protected cultivation has empowered the practitioners of itnot in terms of money but pride too which is known to be lacking in agriculture.The organizers of the Seminar tried to cover cases from difficult places likeLadakh, tribal belts of certain states and developed states like Punjab, Delhietc.

I personally enjoy going through these stories and hope most of thereaders would not only enjoy them but emulate them by adopting this potentialtechnology in the event of prevailing conditions of shrinking land and waterresources, frequent spell of inclement weather, popularly known as climatechange.

Since India is a developing country, our farmers need not only affordablebut low- cost and simple technology to have high productivity of qualityproduce. Use of technologies such as low -cost protected structures, plasticmulch, naturally- ventilated polyhouse and lowpressure drip irrigation havebeen mentioned in this compilation of success stories.

All the authors in these stories deserve our appreciation. We are gratefulto each of them and all those who helped them in structuring these successstories. Dr Balraj Singh, Director, NRC, Seed Spices, Ajmer; Dr Naved Sabir,


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Principal Scientist, NCIPM; Dr Raj Kumar, Dr SS Sindhu, Dr M Hasan andDr AK Singh, CPCT, IARI; Dr BS Tomar, Principal Scientist, Seed ProductionUnit, IARI; Dr DK Singh, Associate Professor, GBPUA&T, Pantnagar andother contributors deserve special appreciation for their efforts, co-operation

and contribution.On behalf of the society, the organizers of seminar and my own, I

congratulate all the practitioners of protected cultivation making per drop of water to produce more crop and inducing pride to the profession of protectedagriculture.

My apology, for mistakes may be many in the document because it hasbeen compiled hurriedly to take advantage of the event.

18 March, 2013 Brahma SinghPresident

Indian Society for Protected CultivationNew Delhi


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DIHAR technologieslifeline forarmy and locals in Leh

The local farmers are growing a number of high-yielding vegetablevarieties/hybrids at their farms, adopting DIHAR technologies. The

farmers are supplying their fresh vegetables (28 types) of tropical,subtropical and temperate origin to the army. The farmers cooperative

society is ensuring supply of vegetables to army and meeting about 55%of their total requirement of fresh vegetables in Ladakh sector. This hasdeveloped fraternization between army and civil population with improved socio-economic conditions of poor farmers. This success story is aunique example of partnership between DRDO (technology provider),army (consumers) and local farmers (producers).

The DIHAR, Leh, accepted the challenge of waging a war against harsh

climatic conditions and developed appropriate technologies which are in tunewith the prevailing socio-economic and environmental conditions of Ladakhregion. To bridge the gap between demand and supply of vegetables, greenhousetechnologies have played a very important role in ensuring year-roundavailability of fresh vegetables to our troops and locals. The DIHAR, Leh, hasestablished greenhouses of various types (as per the geo-climatic condition) invarious army units itself, so that they themselves can grow vegetables as pertheir preferences. A total of 165 greenhouses of various types have beenestablished till now.

GREENHOUSE TECHNOLOGY

Trench GreenhouseIt is a very low-cost greenhouse known as an underground greenhouse,

preferably 30 10 3 of size. Trench is covered with a transparent UVstabilized 200 micron thick polythene during day time to harvest maximumsolar energy and extra cover of black polythene at night time to check the heatloss. It maintains 78 C difference in temperature during winter. The productioncost under trench is Rs 5.25 / kg with a cost:benefit ratio of 1:3.5. A total of 62 trench greenhouses have been established in various army units.


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Polyench Greenhouse

It is semi-underground double-walled greenhouse working on theprinciple of zero energy chamber made from locally-available bricks and othermaterials. The air gap between two walls provides better insulation to check the heat loss. It enhances 1112 0 C temperature and 40% humidity as comparedto ambient day time during extreme winters, providing favourable environmentfor vegetable cultivation, especially for leafy vegetables and root crops. Theproduction cost is Rs 6/kg with a cost:benefit ratio of 1:4.

Till date, DIHAR has established 27 greenhouses of its own, afterrealizing its utility in this sector and wide acceptance among local farmers.For further impetus, Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC),Leh, is providing 50% subsidy to local farmers for construction of these

greenhouses.

FRP/Polycarbonate GreenhouseSeveral types of greenhouses such as fibre reinforce polyester (FRP)

and polycarbonate (double and triple layered) have also been designed

Trench greenhouses

Polyench greenhouses


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and standardized for high productivity at different altitudes of Ladakh. So

far, DIHAR has installed 76 such greenhouses at various far flung locations inLadakh sector, covering about 5.23 acres area under protected cultivation.

Polycarbonate greenhouses


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In Jharkhand...Low pressure technologyto make tribals cheerful

The project has given very good results in terms of increased yield,diversification of crops, efficient use of precious inputs like water, soil,seed and fertilizer, and very good innovative marketing strategy. The

project has addressed both technical and social benefits for very poor tribal farmers. The project has been technically successful inimplementing and demonstrating the use of low pressure drip irrigationtechnology at farmers fields. The successful results of project lead toincrease in farmers income from few hundreds of rupees to about

Rs 50,000 annually. Thus, the poor tribal farmers became APL (AbovePoverty Line) from BPL (Below Poverty Line) within a year. It is very

successful example of socio-economic upliftment of poor tribal farmersdue to implementation of low pressure drip irrigation technology. Thesuccess story of Jharkhand Angada block farmers has inspired manystate governments like Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh to adopt project

for socio-economic development of farmers.

Low pressure drip irrigation technology is a new innovation in pressurizedirrigation technology. Pressurized irrigation technology like drip irrigationand sprinkler irrigation have many advantages mainly in the form of water andfertilizer saving, increase in crop production, removal of weeds etc. Thesetechnologies need pressure and energy mainly in the form of electrical energyfor their working operation.

Thus, pressurized irrigation technologies are totally dependant on supplyof electricity. It is major bottleneck of these technologies. A new innovationhas been made in the field to run the drip irrigation system in small landholding with gravitational energy rather than commonly used electrical energy.

It has been named as low pressure drip irrigation technology.

THE TECHNOLOGYIn this system, gravitational energy is used by placing the water supply

tank at a minimum height of 1.5 m. The platform of locally-available materials


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like brick, stone, wood, plank is made of minimum 1.5 m height to place thewater tank of 5001000 liter over it. Normally, 1,000 litre tank is sufficient toirrigate 1,000 m 2 area of different types of horticultural crops. The lateral orbed length used in this system is not more than 20 m. The lateral pipe of

12-16 mm fitted with dripper of discharge of 1 litre/hour is commonly used inthis system. The hydraulics of low pressure drip irrigation system has beenstudied through different experiments, which suggest the optimum use of water and nutrients in this particular model.

The major advantage of this system is simplification in the use of fertigation. In pressurized irrigation system, there is a need of extra pump,venturi or tank for supply of fertilizers. This requires additional money and

energy to be used in the system. Low pressure drip irrigation technology hasanother major advantage in this area of fertigation as the same water supplyirrigation tank is used for supply of fertilizers and other micronutrients.

Normally, commonly used fertilizers and micronutrients are directlyused in irrigation tank and supplied to crops. Thus, we can see that lowpressure drip irrigation technology has simplified and economized thepressurized drip irrigation technology. This system is now particularly suitablefor Indian villages and Indian farmers. Low pressure drip irrigation technologyis getting into the villages due to its advantage over pressurized drip irrigationtechnology for the use of the system without electricity as many Indianvillages have erratic and limited electricity supply.

The system is very popular among the farming community as it istechnically simple and easy to use in the field. The system can be installed,

Layout of low pressure drip irrigation technology


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used, maintained and replaced by one small family. Therefore, it is sometimesalso known as family drip irrigation system. We all know that land holdingarea is decreasing in our country due to increasing population and there is ashift towards use of protected cultivation and use of horticultural crops.

In all these scenario, low pressure drip irrigation technology is extremelysuitable and beneficial for Indian farmers. Low pressure drip irrigationtechnology is particularly suitable for protected horticulture and greenhousefarming, where the land holding is small and there is a precise need of waterand fertilizers.

Its Future in Jharkhand

Jharkhand is a severely food deficit and poor state with 44% of populationas BPL families, 67% of worker force are engaged in subsistence farming.Potential of water resource is poorly developed, less than 10% of grosscropped area is only irrigated, 85% of the cultivable area is mono-croppedwith very low productivity compared to other states and all India average.

There is a stagnation of yield of cereal crops, poor price realization andmarket linkages and low technical know-how and use of technology are prime

reasons of poor situation of farmers in the state. Conventional farming/ agricultural methods based on flood irrigation and broadcasting of fertilizers,have made little headway in tackling the twin challenges of increasingproductivity and optimal resource utilization.

This assumes even more significance in Jharkhand, where agriculturalcanvass is dotted with rainfed cropping pattern, coupled with undulating landand skewed land holdings. Technology interventions, which address land

productivity of marginal farmers, hold key to usher in an effective means of addressing the issue of rural poverty alleviation. Pilot Projects at Nagri, RatuBlock and Janum Village at Angara Block of Ranchi district have successfullyproven that a small intervention in the form of finance and technology can goa long way in improving cash flow of small and marginal farmers.

Jharkhand has a conducive environment for vegetable cultivation and byusing appropriate drip irrigation technology; vegetable crop productivity can

be enhanced. This has been demonstrated at Block ANGARA, Ranchi, byJharkhand State Livelihood Promotion Society (JSLPS) and NABARD withthe help of a service providing agency, MAATI Agrotech Private Ltd. Thetechnical help for installation of low pressure drip irrigation system andpolyhouses has been provided by Centre for Protected Cultivation Technology,Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi.


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Outcome of TechnologyIncreased farm productivity of participating farmers and an annualincome generation of more than Rs 50,000/1,000 m 2 of cultivationarea.

Increased local employment opportunities in on-farm and off-farmactivities, leading to reduce distress migration.

Increased livelihood options to participant families (>2 options perfamily).

Inclusion in basic banking facility to build a capital base for farmers.

Wider and easier access to finance for setting up village basedenterprises.

Better realization of price of farm products through post-harvestmanagement, value-addition and market linkages.

Empowered and vibrant peoples organizations addressing their owndevelopmental issues

The project learning will provide quality inputs in formulation of programmes influencing the public policies addressing issues of poverty.

Self-Employment and Local Direct MarketingThere has been concern in the recent years regarding the efficiency of

marketing of fruits and vegetables in India. It is believed that poor efficiencyin marketing channels and poor marketing infrastructure are leading not onlyto high and fluctuating consumer prices, but also to only a small proportion of consumer rupee reaching the farmers. There is also substantial wastage,deterioration in quality, and frequent mismatch between demand and supplyspatially and over time. With growing demand and accompanying supplyresponse, fruits and vegetables have assumed great importance.

Off-Season MarketThe off - season vegetable market in the entire region is a key focus area.

For example during monsoons the local production of tomato is negligible andall major market in the eastern zone depend on supplies from the southernstates. The tomato prices during June-October range from Rs 15 to 20/kg anddemand in towns like Ranchi and Jamshedpur touches 30-40 tonnes/day.Whereas tomato price in peak season (NovemberMarch) comes down toRs 1-2/kg, providing no commercial gains to farmers. The other emerging


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market is the mushrooming organized retail sector. The demand for qualityproduce at a premium price from this sector can only be catered throughorganised cultivation. This project has the potential of monopolizing thissector in region. The project aims to organize farmers. As project aims atsupporting 100,000 farmers, it wishes to create alternate market mechanismlike Rythu Bazaar.

Off-season produce ready for marketing


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Greenhouse Capsicum:harbinger of prosperity

Both Ayush Khemka and Jayant Ghosh have become the icons amongother youths and have started giving consultancy to famers and other unemployed youths who are willing to adopt hi-tech farming system of vegetable crops under protected structures. Other farmers too are

adopting the technology and fetching more than hitherto-grown traditionalcrops.

In 2006, two young educated farmers, Ayush Khemka and Jayant Ghosh,took training on Protected Cultivation of Horticultural Crops at the Centre forProtected Cultivation Technology (formerly Indo-Israel Project) at IndianAgricultural Research Institute, New Delhi. Immediately after getting thetraining with the help of National Horticulture Board, they build a naturally-

ventilated greenhouse of 5,800m2

size on their own land, lying 20 km awayfrom Ranchi.

Initially, they started cultivation of Capsicum in greenhouse. Fourvarieties, Indra, Orobelle, Swarna and Bombay, were sown. They raised virus-free nursery of all varieties in plug trays in a greenhouse. After 35 days, virus-

Capsicum growing in greenhouse and its fruits ( inset )


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free seedlings were transplanted in naturally-ventilated greenhouse. All therecommended CPCTs package of practices were followed. The whole cropduration was of 10 months under greenhouse, starting from May to March, thefirst harvesting came three months after sowing in May which continued till

last week of February.In total, 63.0 tonnes of marketable green fruits were harvested from

5,800m 2 greenhouse area. Ayush Khemka and Jayant Ghosh were quite fortunateand lucky as their entire produce was lifted by Reliance Fresh (undertaking of Reliance India Ltd). They sold the produce from the farm itself on an averageprice of Rs 33/kg, giving a gross income of Rs 21.70 lakh in 10 months froman area of 5,800m 2 of naturally-ventilated greenhouses.

The basic reason for high gross income was opening of Reliance Freshoutlets and non-cultivation of Capsicum crop by common farmers aroundRanchi. The price range of Capsicum fruits was Rs 15-60/kg. During criticalperiod of August and September, the price of green fruits was Rs 50-60/kg, butit was below Rs 20/kg during October, November and February.

A good start never ends, experiencing a high profit from Capsicumbusiness, Ayush and Jayant converted 8.0 acres open field under naturally-

ventilated condition in 2008-09 to a total of 10 acres of protected farm area.In 2008, they grew Capsicum in 5.0 acre and were very much satisfied in termof yield and income.

There footprints were followed by other farmers and that was anotherstart for them. A business always gives birth to a new business; they grabbedthe other side of the coin and started fabricating protected structures by usinggood quality cladding and basic steel material. They fabricated structures for

their followers who wanted to shift to protected cultivation.With time, they have started growing cucumber and rose, and also sell

seedlings of different vegetable crops to other farmers. They also adopted thetechnique of raising vegetable crops like tomato, chilli, brinjal etc. in raisedbeds equipped with drip irrigation and plastic mulching under open fieldconditions. This has also been successful in disseminating it among fellowfarmers.

Now, both Ayush and Jayant are happy and source of inspiration to otherfarmers.


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Arvind Beniwal: an icon forstrawberry cultivation

Ram Ashrey

Arvind Beniwal has become an icon for strawberry cultivation. He is asource of learning high-tech way of producing quality strawberries.

Arvind Beniwal, a farmer who has been inspired with scientists of CIPHET, Abohar, on strawberry cultivation dared to take this as a commercialventure. Now, he is growing 30 acres of strawberry at Palla village near Delhi(on Karnal GT road) on contract farming. His whole production is taken byMother Diary SAFAL agency throughout the production season. Hisstrawberry produce is high in demand in five-star hotels and Embassies of several countries at Delhi. Around 500 acres of land (Tapa, Bareta in Mansa

districts; Viryamkhera in Abohar, Saharwa in Hisar) is now under strawberry.He is a source of inspiration for hundred of progressive farmers in the

NCR region. He has already aired his strawberry success stories on DDNational and AIR (All India Radio) several times. Now, he is recognized asSTRAWBERRY ICON among farming community. Some more area hascome under cultivation near cities and towns in north-Indian condition.

Looking into the benefits and prospects of strawberry cultivation, some

farmers have started growing strawberry in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh.Some of them have earned a handsome profit from strawberry cultivation. Forthe last 8 years, farmers are successfully cultivating strawberry, earning lakhsof rupees from one acre of strawberry. More area has come under the cultivationof strawberry.

Further, scientists convinced and persuaded Arvind Beniwal to practiseintercropping in his strawberry field with high-value crops. Mr Beniwal

earned Rs 6 lakh/ha extra income by cultivation of Capsicum and yellow-fleshed watermelons as intercrop in strawberry field. It is worth mention overhere that he has not involved extra input (except seed and labour) as intercropthrives well on residual effect of nutrients applied during strawberry crop.

Mr Beniwal adopted an integrated approach to reap maximum benefitfrom protected cultivation. Seed or planting material is the key to success,


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Arvind Beniwal at his farm Strawberry growing in his farm

Packaging of strawberry Strawberry fruits packed in CFB boxes

Intercropping of melons instrawberry field

Capsicum planting on the beds ofstrawberry field

realising this fact, Arvind dares himself to grow strawberry runners. Initially,he tried to produce runners at his farm but he could not get quality runners dueto bad weather and higher infestation of insect pests and diseases. Then, heshifted his runner production site to Kullu-Manali.


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Now, he is producing quality runners for own use as well as selling toother growers. He is using polyhouses and low tunnels for runner productionin order to get disease-free planting material. Looking his prospectiveendeavour, other farmers also started hi-tech nursery.

Since area under high-value crops is increasing very fast for supplyingthe planting material to farmers, nursery production in polyhouse/shade nethouse is gaining popularity. Looking into the success, NHB has also takenhi-tech nursery as a component of their scheme and start giving subsidy.

Runner mortality is one of the biggest problem in early planting of strawberry. With the help of scientists, recently Mr Arvind introduced oneinnovation in strawberry runner production. He started growing runner in

biodegradable pouches under polyhouse.By planting polybags established runners, runner mortality is reduced to

23%. He says that this is the big saving, as strawberry cultivation involves2530% cost on runners. Mr Beniwal does not stopped here, he developed hisown brand of strawberry fruits, Arvinds Strawberry. With this brand name,he is sending his strawberries to Kolkata, Jaipur, Udaipur, Delhi and Agra.


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Seedless cucumber forfarmers prosperity

Sunil Sharma started cultivation of seedless cucumber and earned good fame. Now, he is busy in fabricating and repairing of greenhouses as anadded advantage. Thus, Sunil is all-round entrepreneur for his area.

Sunil Sharma, a resident of Village Bamanvaas (Thanagaji), Alwar,

Rajasthan, approached the Centre for Protected Cultivation Technology, IndianAgricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, in April 2010. In 2011, he plantedseedless cucumber in 1,000 m 2 naturally-ventilated greenhouse. He procured2,500 seedlings of seedless cucumber variety, Kian, in August 2011 andfollowed all standardized package of practices.

He follows all the Good Agricultural Practices and has excellent cropmanagement skill. He harvested 50.0 quintal of seedless cucumbers from 8

Sunil Kumar inside his greenhouse


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September 2011 to 12 January 2012, from 1,000 m 2 area of greenhouse. Hemarketed the entire produce by his own vehicle to niche markets of Jaipur andDelhi @ Rs 30/kg. The second crop of cucumber (var. Hilton) was planted on28 December 2011 again in area of 1,000 m 2. He harvested 60.0 q of cucumbers

in around 40 pluckings from 7 March to 15 May 2012.Now, he has increased the area under protected cultivation to 4,000 m 2

for naturally-ventilated greenhouse at his farm. Not only this, he is alsoutilizing the space between 2 beds by intercropping leafy vegetables. SunilSharma, has also planted 6.0 acres of muskmelon for off-season cultivationunder plastic low tunnels in third week of January.

He has now started the work of greenhouse fabrication and renovation,

repair and management, which is very unique among such farmers. Today,Sunil Sharma has acquired a completely different outlook by entering into thefield of protected cultivation. His success story certainly boosts up the moraleof unemployed youth who are also interested to enter into the field of protectedcultivation of vegetables in various parts of the country.


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Potato minitubes to fulfil demand of potato seed tubers

The TIFAC-CORE at Thapar University, Patiala, has optimized different parameters for micropropagation of various cultivars of potato (bothindigenous and exotic). Protocol has also been standardized for efficient acclimatization and field transfer of in-vitro produced plantlets.

Technology has also been developed for the production of microtubersand their subsequent management. Subsequently, protocol for productionof mini-tubers using miropropagated plantlets or micro-tubers under

protected cultivation has been standardized. Various factors influencing yield of mini-tubers have been studied. The produced mini-tubers areindexed for different viruses and supplied to growers. The 99.99 per cent of mini-tubers produced over a period of time (> 10 years) were found

to be free of pathogens.

There is a good success of mini-tuber production using micropropagatedplantlets grown under protected cultivation at TIFAC-CORE, Thapar University,Patiala. This technology is exploited to produce mini-tubers from cultivarsprovided by industries such as PEPSICO India Holdings Ltd and McCainFoods. Cultures provided by these companies are maintained under aseptic

conditions. Mini-tubers of these cultivars are produced and supplied to thesecompanies as per their requirement. This partnership between industry andresearch institution is now more than 15 years old.

TECHNOLOGICAL INTERVENTION

Optimization of MediumThe medium was optimized with respect to its composition and quantity

for the culture of shoots. It was established that shoots can be propagatedsuccessfully on plant growth regulator-free (PGR-free) basal Murashigeand Skoog (MS) medium. Different quantities of medium were tested in500 ml culture bottles and it was established that 30 ml of culture medium


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per culture bottle was sufficient for supporting growth of shoots duringsubculture cycle of 21 days. Another cost intensive item in medium wasdistilled water. Therefore, attempts were made to replace it with some cheaperoption. For this, deionized water turned out to be suitable replacement fordistilled water. This is not only cost-effective but also results in better shootgrowth of potato.

A: A view of cultures in incubation room; B: plantlets grown in culture ready fortransfer to field; C: microtubers of potato in cultures; D: acclimatization of plantletsin polyhouse; E: inset net tunnels used for protected cultivation; F: potato cropgrowing under protected cultivation in insect net tunnels used for protected cultivation;G: minitubers being graded for packaging and dispatch.


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Carbohydrate SourceCarbohydrates is another important medium component, contributing to

the cost of production of micro-plantlets/micro-tubers. Conventionally, sucrose(AR grade) is used as a carbohydrate source which is expensive (Rs 300/kg).

Therefore, alternative sources were tried and table sugar was successfullyadopted for micropropagation of potato.

Subculture CycleFor optimum production of micro-plantlets proper duration

of subculture cycle required during culture bulking. Subculture cycle of 21 days was optimized for attaining higher propagation rates in potato.A longer subculture cycle on one hand required more amount of medium, onthe other hand it does not result in substantial gain in achieving higherpropagation rate.

Inoculum DensityDifferent number of explants per culture vessel was subcultured and it

was found that when 30 explants were cultured per culture vessel, maximummultiplication rate of 3.8 was achieved. Whereas, when 10 explants werecultured per culture vessel, a multiplication rate of 2.2 was only achieved atthe end of culture cycle. The effect of inoculum size on growth andmultiplication of cultures has also been reported earlier. During final subculturecycle, when 30 plantlets were cultured, 28.5 plants/bottle were produced. Onthe other hand, when 10 explants were cultured 6.5 plants/culture bottle wereproduced. Therefore, an inoculum size of 30 explants/culture bottle is beingused for commercial production of plantlets.

Planting TimeThe planting time in field had an impact on number of tubers produced

per plant and average size of minituber produced. Therefore for attainingproper size and number of tubers, time of production needs to be optimized.It was observed that early planting on one hand resulted in higher mortality of plants in field, on the other hand number of tubers produced per plant werealso less. The plants planted during the last 10 days of October showed highersurvival and more number of tubers were produced per plant. Under Patialaconditions, plants planted during different dates of October showed survivialand production as shown in Table 1.


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DehulmingThe dehulming period had an impact on quality of tubers produced. It

was worked that for production of healthy tubers, dehulming before the build-up of vector population is nacessary. To achieve this objective, dehulming of crop under protective cultivation can be carried out by 30 January, whenvector population is still lower. Such crop resulted in production of healthyseed tubers.

Virus Indexing of MinitubersThe produced tubers are indexed for viruses using enzyme linked immuno-

sorbent assay (ELISA). About 98 per cent of samples are turned out to benegative for all the reported viruses of potato in India. Further, sample thatshows some positive reaction with ELISA, when these are tested usingmolecular techniques such as PCRRT-PCT are turned out to be negative forviruses. Thus, an efficient and reliable technology for production of healthymini-tubers is standardized.

Yield Revenue GenerationSustained yield and supply is required by industry partner for planning

the production. Thus, it is very important to maintain the sustained supply of seed to industry partner. Using this technology developed and adopted atTIFAC-CORE, Thapar University, Patiala, it was possible to maintain thesustained supply of healthy minitubers to industry.

A sustained revenue generation has been achieved by supplying minitubers

to industry. This sustained generation of revenue was a sufficient to maintainthe facilities at TIFAC-CORE on one hand and developed a strong industrypartnership on the other hand. Thus, this is am important activity meeting thefundamental objectives of industry.

Table 1. Performance of plants planted during different days of October 2012

Dates of Survival Average tuber Average numberplanting (per cent) size (g) of tubers

1-7 70 15.4 7.5

8-15 80 13.4 10

16-23 88 11.4 13

24-30 95 10.5 16


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Off-season summer squashfetches more

This technology has been developed and standardized for off-seasoncultivation of vegetables by the Center for Protected CultivationTechnology (CPCT), at IARI, New Delhi. Some farmers in northern

plains of India are using this technology for growing off-season cucurbits.

Mr Sanjeev Ahuja is pioneer farmer for off-season summer squashcultivation under plastic low tunnels. He is a torch-bearer for other

farmers in the area.

Mr Sanjeev Ahuja of village, Khuban, in Abohar (Punjab), visited CPCTand met Dr Balraj Singh, the then In-Charge. He was very much impressedafter seeing the crops under plastic low-tunnel. He planned and took all relatedadvice and started growing summer squash under plastic low tunnel. Now, he

Table 1. Economics of off-season summer squash cultivation under plastic low tunnels

Particulars Dates/yield and cost

Date of nursery sowing 10-11-2006Date of transplanting under tunnels 15-12-2006Area under tunnels 1.0 acreRemoval of plastic of tunnels* 12-2-2007

First harvesting 15-3-2007Last harvesting 18-5-2007Total yield 80.0 qTotal cost of cultivation including plastic of tunnels, Rs 25,000

hoops etc.Gross income (@Rs 819/q)** Rs 65,500Net income Rs 40,500Cost:benefit ratio 1:2.62

*The crop was severely damaged by hailstorm on 14 February, 2007 just after removalof tunnel plastic but the crop was kept as such and a spray of fungicide was done aweek after the incidence and complete crop was re-sprouted as such. **The completeproduce was marketed in the local Abohar market and the average price of sale wasRs 819/q.


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is using this technology for the last three years. During last year, SanjeevAhuja used this technology in an area of one acre for growing off-seasonsummer squash hybrid, Chandrika, which is round in shape. Sanjeev Ahuja isextremely happy after growing crop under low tunnels, as it is highly profitable.

The details of planting of crop, yield and economics are given in Table 1. Heis now interested to use this kind of technology every year for off-seasoncultivation of different cucurbits also.

After getting success in plastic low-tunnel, he has now put another fouracres of his land under protected cultivation by using shade net technology.Since last three years, he is growing tomato and other vegetables duringtypical summer months under temporary shade net house conditions from

June to August and getting higher price of tomato and other vegetables.


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In Greenhouse...

Tomato cultivation is lucurative

By adopting hi-tech farming practice, Yogendra Singh has become anicon for other farmers of the region, his progressiveness to adopt modern

practices is much rewarding both economically and socially. He is verymuch satisfied with technological intervention.

A farmer, YogendraSingh of Ekla Village inMeerut district of UttarPradesh, was growingsugarcane and othertraditional crops. This

conventional cultivation hasfrustrated him due to lowincome. Coincidentally, hevisited Centre for ProtectedCultivation Technology(CPCT), IARI, New Delhi,and met Dr Balraj Singh,

the then In-Charge, CPCT.Looking to the modern techniques of cultivation under protected

structures, he was very much impressed. In one of the demonstation made atCPCT of tomato under naturally-ventilated greenhouse, he enquired more andplanned to replicate it at his own farm. He took an initiative and constructeda naturally-ventilated greenhouse of 1,000 m 2 at his farm. He procured seedlingsof tomato variety, GA-600, from CPCT, New Delhi.

He followed all the cultural practices recommended by CPCT. Duringvery first year, he produced 125 q of quality tomato, earning a gross incomeof Rs 2.0 lakh by direct selling it to nearby hotels located in Cantonment areaof Meerut city. The gross income was comparatively low as it was expecteddue to late transplanting of seedlings.

Bumper tomato crop in greenhouse


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Protected cultivation to make hillfarmers prosperous

J.C. Bhatt, Manoj Bhatt and K.K.S. BishtVivekananda Parvatiya Krishi Anusandhan Sansthan (ICAR)

Almora, Uttarakhand 263 601

Under the project, 55 polyhouses have been constructed since 2005-06,benefiting 53 farmers. The cumulative floor area of polyhouses is 4,794.5m

2. The year-wise number of polyhouses and respective area under

polyhouses have increased tremendously between 2005-06 and 2012-13.

Hills present a great opportunity to its farmers which is not available tothe farmers in plains, i.e. potential of cultivation of vegetables in hills whenthey cannot be grown in plains, is known as off-season vegetable cultivation.However, growing vegetables in open conditions is subject to vagaries of weather and attack of diseases and insect pests. This setback can be mitigatedto a large extent by protected cultivation. In view of the advantages offered byprotected cultivation, a project was undertaken during 2005-06.

Currently, project isactive in three villages, viz.Dudholi, Todara andPokhrar. The project wasinitiated in these villages inlate 2008. The villages,Dudholi and Todara areunder Dwarahat block of Almora district, whereasPokhra village is underDhari block of Nainitaldistrict of Uttarakhand. The total number of polyhouses in these villages is 34.

Advantages of Protected Cultivation Higher yield: Tomato grown under protected condition gave 70-243%

higher yield during 2007-08 to 2012-13 compared to that grown in open.

Tomato growing in polyhouse at Dudholi village


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The polyhouses with cucumber crops during 2009-10 ( left )

and 2010-11 ( right )

Similarly, the yield of Capsicum was 256 and 390% higher than the yield inopen field in 2010-11 and 2011-12, respectively.

Stability of yield: A comparison of yields of tomato (2007-08 to 2012-13)in open and protected conditions show that yield under protected environment

is far more stable than that under open condition. Better quality and higher price: The average price per kilogram fetched

by tomato grown under polyhouse is Rs 2/- more than that grown in openfields due to its better fruit appearance and firmness.

Reduced cost of pest management: Because of closed environment, theefficacy of chemical can be realized to a far greater extent, thereby reducingthe amount and cost of chemicals applied.

Successful Innovations Introduction of cucumber: Cucumber, which was taken up as a trial crop

in 2009-10 and grown along the sides of a single polyhouse, was such asuccess that next year the area under cucumber rose from 20 to 500 m 2.

Sliding door: The provision of dual door, one of polythene andanother of the net, implies that doorshave to open in opposite directions,i.e. one door to open towards theinside of polyhouse and anothertowards outside. Thus, semicirculararea with the radius equal to widthof door has to be left unused insidethe polyhouse. A farmer, with carpentry skill, has devised the sliding doorwhich requires only the path to be left unused.

Polyhouse with sliding door is ideal


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Cow urine: A farmer at Pokhrar village sprayed the tomato crop inpolyhouse with cow urine only and obtained a disease- and insect-free tomatoes.Moreover, tomatoes kept at room temperature for 28 days remained to look and feel as fresh as the recently plucked ones.

What Farmers State...

Rajendra Rana, village Todara

The crop which gave Rs 500 before introduction of polyhouse, nowgives Rs 10,000 from the same area. We were imparted knowledge about theidentification of diseases and insects and their control.

Gopal Singh Rawat, village TodaraThe crop grown in polyhouse is not damaged by animals and fetch better

market price, which has improved my economic condition.

Puran Singh Rawat, village Dudholi

I am a taxi driver and despite devoting less time in polyhouse, I got avery good return from tomato and Capsicum. Now, I have started to grownursery in polyhouse.

Jeet Singh, village Dudholi

I started to work in polyhouse after getting associated with VivekanandaParvatiya Krishi Anusandhan Sansthan, Almora, which resulted in higherproduction and market price of tomato, Capsicum and cucumber. I had honourof receiving Innovative Farmer Prize at IARI, New Delhi, due to polyhousetechnology of the institute.

Roop Singh, village PokhraI could not get enough yield due to low land holding. However, since

obtaining the polyhouse from the institute, I get five-fold benefit compared tothe crop grown outside the polyhouse. I wish to have more polyhouse in myremaining land.


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Greenhouse vegetables:a boon to Uttarakhand farmers

D.K. Singh

Many farmers in Uttarakhand tried for cultivation of cucumber andtomato in their polyhouses and were successful in their endeavour. The

farmers, Krishan Dutt Chaubey, Devi Dutt, Ramesh Chandra, Tara Dutt,Keshav Dutt, Mathura Dutt, Nirmal Chaubey, Prayag Dutt Chaubey andNityanand Chaubey from Sui, Champawat, each with polyhouse area of 200 m 2; Manoj Chauhan from Bannakhera, U.S. Nagar with polyhouse area of 8,000 m 2; Sanjay Goel from Jaspur, U.S. Nagar with polyhouse area of 8,000 m 2; Kushal Pradhan from Jhankat, U.S. Nagar with polyhouse area of

Krishan Dutt Chaube looking his crops in polyhouse


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500 m 2; Ravi Mohan Sharma from Mota Haldu, Nainital, with polyhouse areaof 3,000 m 2; Devendra Sachan from Sahastrapur, Dehra Dun with polyhousearea of 12,000 m 2; Danjay Garg from Hasanwala, Haridwar, with polthousearea of 6,000 m 2 and B.S. Sandhu from Bajpur with polyhouse area of 4,000 m 2,

told that earlier they were involved in production of cut flowers under theirpolyhouses but due to non-availability of good market in nearby markets, nowthey shifted to vegetable production, mainly tomato, parthenocarpic cucumberand Capsicum as main crops and coriander, turnip and radish as filler crops.

Devendra Sachan, farmer from Sahastrapur, Dehra Dun, has 6 polyhouses,each having 2,000 m 2 covered area. He is growing tomato varieties,Pant Polyhouse Hybrid Tomato 1, Pant Polyhouse Tomato 2, Avinash 3 and

Sanjay Garg busy in polyhouse at Jhankat, U.S. Nagar

Polyhouse at Hasnwala, Haridwar


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Rizk-Zawan, in soil less media. According to his opinion, all varieties aregood but those from Pantnagar gave early yield and set their fruits above 40C.The other varieties stopped their fruit setting when temperature goes above38C.

The farmers reported five-fold higher production in polyhouse cultivationas compared to open with lower incidence of insects, pests and diseases.Polyhouse cultivation gave higher economic return with lower cost of production, giving more benefit per unit area. The produce had better quality,consumer preference, nutrition and keeping quality.

The varieties of tomato and cucumber developed at Pantnagar gavebetter production as compared to those available in market. The varietiesavailable in the market are producing satisfactory yield only up to thetemperature of 30-35C but when temperature goes above 40C, these Europeanvarieties available in the market stopped fruiting but during the same timewhen temperature exceeded more than 40C, varieties developed at Pantnagargave significantly higher yield.

Polyhouse at Sahastrapur, Dehra Dun


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Protected cultivation pays

J.K. Bisht and J.C. BhattVivekananda Parvatiya Krishi Anusandhan Sansthan (ICAR), Almora

With adoption of the technologies of VPKAS, Mr Pandey, now holdscomfortable position with economic gain from his marginal land holdingsand has earned confidence to continue agriculture in hills. Thus, he is

happy and diversified the area under protected cultivation. He is good example for other formers in the area.

Amba Dutt Pandey, village Bhagartola, about 50 km away from Almoraon Almora Pithoragarh road near Jageshwar, used to grow all crops underrainfed conditions. He was not able to adequately irrigate his modest holdingof 0.2 ha. Therefore, he was not interested in agriculture and started workingas a labourer. Then, he came in contact of VPKAS (ICAR), Almora.

The scientists of the institute discussed with him about the problemsalong with other similarly affected farmers in the village. Scientists examinedthe terrain, saw the natural perennial springs and soon formulated a long-termsolution of water harvesting from the springs into tanks lined with low-densitypolyethylene and this was linked with protected cultivation.

He was also advised to grow most suitable crops as per the location. Hequickly learned that vegetable farming in polyhouse will benefit him as it will

help in overcoming the adverse weather conditions. He was given training onvegetable cultivation and improved techniques with initial support to implementthese works.

He constructed six low-cost polyhouses, occupying a total covered floorarea of 600 m 2, out of locally available pine wood and UV stabilized sheet andinsect-proof net. These polyhouses are being utilized for growing off-seasonvegetables (tomato, cucumber, cauliflower, cabbage and squash).

He has different LDPE tanks for water storage (capacity of 1,00,000litres), which are being used for irrigating the crops inside polyhouses. Now,he is earning more than Rs 1,00,000 annually. He has learned how to rotatedifferent vegetable crops to maintain soil fertility and manage diseases andother pests inside polyhouse, following a well-formulated cropping sequence


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to get maximum profit by growing off-season cucumber (March-May), tomato(June- November) and cauliflower (November-March).

He is following organic farming system and using hybrid seed of vegetables. In open fields also, he is growing French bean, Capsicum, potato,tomato, summer squash, cauliflower and cabbage. Apart from this, he has alsoplanted saplings of sweet lemon, lemon, peach, plum, apricot etc.

Mr Pandey received best Farmer Award from Honble AgricultureMinister, Mr Sharad Pawar, during 2010-11 for his work and awareness in thefield of Agriculture.


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Innovative Tirath Singh is a sourceof scientific awakening to vegetable

growers

Tirath Singh acquired training on hybrid seed production of chilli fromPAU, Ludhiana, in 1998 and started producing seeds of chilli hybrids,

CH-1 and CH-3. In vegetable production, he has adopted low tunnel and net house cultivation techniques.

Tirath Singh, from villageSandour, tehsil Malerkotla,district: Sangrur, is a smallfarmer, having 5 acres of ownedland and 8 acres of leased land.Before 1990, he was cultivatingmainly paddy-wheat along withdesi cotton and fodder crops.

He started diversifying hisfarming in 1997 by adopting chillicultivation in some parts of hisland and slowly increased the areaunder vegetables to more than 3acres.

In 2010, he came in contact with the scientists of APA of PAU centre,who motivated him to change the design of net house and also given himpolythene sheet free of cost to fix on the top of net during winter and rainyseasons. He is so much inspired from the field experiments on poly net housesand low tunnels and decided to construct one polyhouse during 2012-13.

Although he grows tomato, Capsicum and leafy vegetables, he givespreference to Capsicum and cucumber crops because these are more profitable(Rs 80,000/kanal). He is using drip irrigation in net houses for application of

just the right quantity of fertilizers and water.

He has been engaged in production of vegetable nursery, especially of chilli, onion, Capsicum, tomato and brinjal for the last so many years. He not

Bumper cucumber crop in net house


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Cost and returns from net house of Tirth Singh

Capsicum

Season February to midMay

Seed Rs 1,000

Labour Rs 1,000

Fertilizer Rs 1,500 (DAP + cow dung)

Total expenditure Rs 3,500Total yield 11 quintals

Total produce Rs 17 /kg

Total income Rs 18,700

Net profit =total income-total expenditure Rs 18,700 - 3,500 = 15,200

Cucumber + Coriander

Growing season SeptemberOctober

Seed Rs 4,000

Labour Rs 1,000Fertilizer Rs 1,500 (DAP + cow dung)

Total expenditure Rs 6,500

Total yield 22quintalsTotal produce Rs 20/kg

Total income 44,000 + 2,000 = Rs 46,000

Net profit =total income-total expenditure Rs 46,000Rs 6,500 = 39,500

Capsicum

Growing season NovemberApril

Seed Rs 1,000

Labour Rs 1,000Fertilizer Rs 1,500 (DAP + cow dung)

Total expenditure Rs 3,500

Total yield 25 quintals

Total produce Rs 15 /kg

Total income Rs 37,500

Net profit=total income-total expenditure Rs 37,500-3,500 = 34,000

Total profit = 15,200 + 39,500 + 34,000 = Rs 88,700

Total profit from net house from February 2010 to April 2011 comes out to beRs 88,700


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only grows the nursery for his own requirement but also sells it to fellowfarmers. He has completely stopped paddy and wheat cultivation at his farm.He is a source of inspiration to farmers and also motivates other farmers aboutthe benefits of polyhouse and net house. The Doordarshan Kendra, Jalandhar,recorded his interview on net house cultivation of vegetables and growing of vegetable nursery, which was telecast in Mera Pind Mere Khet programme.

Future StrategiesHe will motivate other farmers about the benefits of polyhouse and net

house. He says, cultivation of crops in polyhouse is best and gives more net

Nursery of Capsicum, chilli, tomato and brinjal ready in field

The experts inspecting cucumber crop grown in net house


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profit but farmers require more awareness and training of cultural practices of various crops to be followed under polyhouse.

Recognizing his achievements for adopting modern technologies, i.e.adoption of protected cultivation (net house, low-tunnel technology, bed

planting of vegetables to make judicious use of irrigation water and use of sprinkler system for vegetable nursery production), Tirath Singh was awardedwith Chief Minister Award for Innovative Horticulture. His presence on theagriculture scene is symbolic of creating new scientific awakening amongfarmers for improving their income vis-a-vis socio-economic status.


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S. Devinder Singh made vegetablecultivation profitable

The farm of S. Devinder Singh has become a model for diversificationof agriculture in the area for other farmers. He had adopted moderntechnologies, i.e. drip and sprinkler irrigation at his farm. He raisesvegetable nursery in plug trays and transplants in low tunnel and

polyhouse at his farm.Mr Devinder Singh, a

farmer of village Mushkabadin Ludhiana district, has 7acres of owned land and 3acres of leased land. To obtaingood quality and higher yield

of vegetables, he establishedpermanent framework fortraining vegetables likecucumber, tomato, Capsicum,bitter gourd and bottle gourdon bamboo sticks.

He contacted Dr K.G.Singh, PAU, Ludhiana, where he came to attend a lecture on finalizing the newdesign of net house. He was having a bamboo poly-house of 500 m 2 at hisfarm. He is so inspired from performance of bamboo poly house and decidedto grow vegetables in polyhouses.

Now, he has established polyhouses in an area of five acres with the helpof National Horticulture Mission. He grows coloured Capsicum and tomato inpolyhouse and sells to Bharti Wal-Mart Sarhind. Mr Singh claims that yield of coloured Capsicum is 2.5-3 kg/plant in polyhouse. In the remaining area, heuses drip irrigation, plastic mulches and low tunnel technologies for watersaving and increasing the productivity.

He also visited Italy, Spain and Germany and England to acquireinformation on new technologies and explore marketing contacts in vegetableproduction. He had registered society under name Mushkabad Agro Help Aid

Bamboo polyhouse at his farm


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Society. His work has been recognized throughout Punjab. He has beenhonoured with S.Ujagar Singh Dhaliwal Memorial Award by PAU, Ludhiana,for self-cultivating vegetable grower. He has also been conferred with NationalAward for Vegetable Grower by IARI, New Delhi, at Pusa Krishi VigyanMela, in 2009. He also received Chief Minister Award for Innovative Farmerin Horticulture (Vegetables) at PAU Kisan Mela, in March 2009.

Cost of cultivation and returns from coloured Capsicum in polyhouse (2,000 m 2)

Sowing time August first week

Harvesting time 15 November to 15 July

Interval between pickings 2-3 days

Seed cost (Rs) 1,00,000

Labour cost (Rs) 5,11,000

Fertilizer cost (Rs) 80,000

Pesticide\insecticide cost (Rs) 20,000

Total expenditure (Rs) 7,11,000Total yield (kg) 48,000

Selling price (Rs/kg) 50

Total income (Rs) 24,00,000

Net profit (Rs) 16,89,000

A delegation from California visited his farm


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Economic analysis of cultivation in polyhouse of Devinder Singh

Cost

Fixed cost (Rs) for 8,000 m 2 74,83,564

Subsidy (Rs) (50 per cent of Rs 935 m 2 area) 37,40,000

Net fixed cost (Rs) 37,43,564

Cost of polysheet (Rs) (estimated life 3-4 years) 40,00,000added 5 times to make the life of polyhouse20 years @ Rs.1 lakh/1000 sq.m

Total fixed cost (Rs) [3+4] 77,43,564

Depreciation cost (Rs) [(total fixed cost/20] 38,71,78.2(considering life 20 years for structure)

Interest on total fixed cost (Rs) @ 10% [c/2(r/100)] 3,87,178.2

Net annual fixed cost (Rs) [6+7] 7,74,356.4

Annual cost of cultivation (Rs) 7,11,000

Annual total cost (Rs) [8+9] 14,85,356.4

Annual total benefit (Rs) 24,00,000

Benefit cost ratio [11/10] 1.62

Pay back period [net fixed cost/net annual profit] 2.22 (less than 3 years)

Future strategiesHe is going to start export of his vegetables in the international market

under trade name Quality Vegetable Produce. He says, cultivation of cropsin polyhouses is best and gives more net profit but farmers require more

Scientists inspecting Capsicum crop grown in polyhouse


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awareness and training of cultural practices of various crops to be followedunder polyhouse. He is a source of inspiration to vegetable growers by earningmore profits from his small land holding not only in Punjab as well asthroughout India. Devinder Singh believes that vegetable growers should take

every possible opportunity to interact with scientists to make best use of available technology.

He will motivate other farmers about the benefits of polyhouse and nethouses. Recognizing his achievements for adoption of net house, low-tunneltechnology, judicious use of irrigation water and use of sprinkler system forvegetable nursery production, he was awarded by PAU, Ludhiana, with Chief Minister Award for Innovative Horticulture.


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Balbir Singh Kamboj boostingagri-entrepreneurship

N.C. NainwalAmity Institute of Horticulture Studies & Research, Amity University, Uttar Pradesh

The success story of Balbir Singh Kamboj is a role model for unemployed

youths who wish to start agri-based enterprise, especially in protected cultivation in the country. Mr Balbir Singh Kamboj is going to be a rolemodel for the farming community of not only in his area but for thewhole country.

Mr Balbir Singh Kamboj, from villageNayagaon, after postgraduation inAgriculture, joined seed industries in 1991.

Motivated by his fathers parental businessof seed processing, he came back to his villageand associated with his father in seed businesstill 2005. After getting motivation from thefast coming up polyhouse culture in the state,he joined Flower Growers Association andestablished first polyhouse for Gerberaproduction with the help of NationalHorticulture Board and Directorate of Horticulture.

After that, he increased the area underprotected cultivation very scientifically to13,000 m 2 at his parental land in his village. Further, he established polyhousein new purchased area of 6,000 m 2 at village Bajun in district Nainital.

Mr Kamboj has full praise to Agri-Export Development Unit, Directorateof Horticulture, National Horticulture Board and National Horticulture Mission,as benefited in terms of training and exposure at national level or abroad onproduction technology of vegetables and production under greenhouses andfertigation, drip and sprinkler irrigation, IPM, use of implements, machineryand tools.

Mr. Kamboj picking the qualityproduce


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With the help from APEDAand a part of as member FlowerGrowers Association, he isselling his produce in niche

markets in Delhi, ensuring properrealization. He marketed theGerbera to niche markets of Delhi, Lucknow, Kanpur andJaipur, at an impressive rate of Rs 5/spike and Rs 60/dozen. Heis getting maximum Rs 50/spikeof his lillium and Rs 7/spike of carnation ( see Box).

Present production status under protected cultivation

Place Area Crop No. of Varieties(m2) bulbs/plant

Naya Gaon 10,000 Gerbera 60,000 Julia, Amilie, Reonigro, Marinilla3,000 Lillium 90,000 Yelloween, Ercolano, Brunello, Tressor

Bajun 4,000 Lillium 1,20,000 Mothers Choice, Yelloween, Courier

2,000 Carnation 40,000 Dona, White dona, Domingo, Kero, LunaTotal 19,000

Mr. Kamboj looking after polyhouse

After third year of entering to this business, he is getting first or secondprize at the Basantotsav, Spring Festival-Flower Exhibition and Competitionorganized by Directorate of Horticulture, Government of Uttarakhand atGovernor House in Dehra Dun as under:

Year Crop/flower Prize2007 Carnation Second2008 Gerbera First

Carnation Second2009 Gerbera Second

Carnation FirstGerbera cut flower First

2010 Gerbera cut flower First

Gerbera SecondCarnation Second

2011 Carnation FirstGerbera First

2012 Lillium FirstCarnation First


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Mr Kamboj has visited Holland, China, Hong Kong and Macau to haveinternational exposure and interaction with international experts. He is of theopinion such exposure visits are very important in improving the knowledge,information and motivation of farmer entrepreneurs.

His wife Mrs Sudesh Kamboj is fully associated with Mr Kamboj to hissuccessful journey from planting to marketing, fetigation to labour managementand plant protection to packaging.

Now, he is keen to increase area under protected cultivation in the entirearea among other growers of villages. He delivers lectures for district and statelevel programmes to motivate farmers about remunerative polyhouse business.

He is also giving advice to farmers about greenhouse fabrication andrenovation, repair and how to manage personally. He is of the view that "Thisis a unique opportunity for young educated youth and farmers to enter into

protected cultivation as a remunerative enterprise.

Both Mr. Kamboj along with his spouse Ms. Sudesh busy in farming activities


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Documents

CPCT Tomato Seed GS-600