Success Stories

PROTECTED CULTIVATION
HERALDING SUCCESS

Indian Society for Protected Cultivation

Centre for Protected Cultivation Technology (CPCT)
Indian Agricultural Research Institute
New Delhi 110 012

Compiled by:

Naved Sabir
Brahma 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 - 28
Ph.: 45576780, Mobile: 9810089097 E-mail: pawannanda@gmail.com

Content
Preface

1. DIHAR technologieslifeline for army and locals in Leh

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

3. Greenhouse Capsicum: harbinger of prosperity

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

to vegetable growers

32

13. S. Devinder Singh made vegetable cultivation profitable

36

14. Balbir Singh Kamboj boosting agri-entrepreneurship

40

Preface

EEING is considered as believing goes the saying. Sharing the success

puts others on the path of empowerment to enjoy the added returns from
new and tested technology. The protected cultivation is a time- tested technology
which is in an infancy state requiring urgent efforts for its adoption. One such
step has been taken by the newly- established Indian Society for Protected
Cultivation, 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 would
deliberate upon the status of protected cultivation technology in the country
and prepare a roadmap for its popularization among them.
On the eve of the Seminar, the organizers on the suggestion of Dr Anwar
Alam, Vice-President of the Society, decided to bring out this publication
having 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 for
quality presentation, the organizers could gather only more than a dozen
examples where protected cultivation has empowered the practitioners of it
not 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 like
Ladakh, tribal belts of certain states and developed states like Punjab, Delhi
etc.
I personally enjoy going through these stories and hope most of the
readers would not only enjoy them but emulate them by adopting this potential
technology in the event of prevailing conditions of shrinking land and water
resources, frequent spell of inclement weather, popularly known as climate
change.
Since India is a developing country, our farmers need not only affordable
but low- cost and simple technology to have high productivity of quality
produce. Use of technologies such as low -cost protected structures, plastic
mulch, naturally- ventilated polyhouse and low- pressure drip irrigation have
been mentioned in this compilation of success stories.
All the authors in these stories deserve our appreciation. We are grateful
to each of them and all those who helped them in structuring these success
stories. Dr Balraj Singh, Director, NRC, Seed Spices, Ajmer; Dr Naved Sabir,

Principal Scientist, NCIPM; Dr Raj Kumar, Dr SS Sindhu, Dr M Hasan and

Dr AK Singh, CPCT, IARI; Dr BS Tomar, Principal Scientist, Seed Production
Unit, IARI; Dr DK Singh, Associate Professor, GBPUA&T, Pantnagar and
other 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 protected
agriculture.
My apology, for mistakes may be many in the document because it has
been compiled hurriedly to take advantage of the event.
18 March, 2013

Brahma Singh
President
Indian Society for Protected Cultivation
New Delhi

DIHAR technologieslifeline for

army and locals in Leh
The local farmers are growing a number of high-yielding vegetable
varieties/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 has
developed fraternization between army and civil population with improved
socio-economic conditions of poor farmers. This success story is a
unique 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 tune
with the prevailing socio-economic and environmental conditions of Ladakh
region. To bridge the gap between demand and supply of vegetables, greenhouse
technologies have played a very important role in ensuring year-round
availability of fresh vegetables to our troops and locals. The DIHAR, Leh, has
established greenhouses of various types (as per the geo-climatic condition) in
various army units itself, so that they themselves can grow vegetables as per
their preferences. A total of 165 greenhouses of various types have been
established till now.

GREENHOUSE TECHNOLOGY
Trench Greenhouse
It is a very low-cost greenhouse known as an underground greenhouse,
preferably 30 10 3 of size. Trench is covered with a transparent UV
stabilized 200 micron thick polythene during day time to harvest maximum
solar energy and extra cover of black polythene at night time to check the heat
loss. It maintains 78 C difference in temperature during winter. The production
cost 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.

Trench greenhouses

Polyench Greenhouse
It is semi-underground double-walled greenhouse working on the
principle of zero energy chamber made from locally-available bricks and other
materials. The air gap between two walls provides better insulation to check
the heat loss. It enhances 11120 C temperature and 40% humidity as compared
to ambient day time during extreme winters, providing favourable environment
for vegetable cultivation, especially for leafy vegetables and root crops. The
production cost is Rs 6/kg with a cost:benefit ratio of 1:4.

Polyench greenhouses

Till date, DIHAR has established 27 greenhouses of its own, after

realizing 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 Greenhouse
Several types of greenhouses such as fibre reinforce polyester (FRP)
and polycarbonate (double and triple layered) have also been designed

Polycarbonate greenhouses

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

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

In Jharkhand...
Low pressure technology
to 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 in
implementing and demonstrating the use of low pressure drip irrigation
technology at farmers fields. The successful results of project lead to
increase in farmers income from few hundreds of rupees to about
Rs 50,000 annually. Thus, the poor tribal farmers became APL (Above
Poverty Line) from BPL (Below Poverty Line) within a year. It is very
successful example of socio-economic upliftment of poor tribal farmers
due to implementation of low pressure drip irrigation technology. The
success story of Jharkhand Angada block farmers has inspired many
state 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 pressurized
irrigation technology. Pressurized irrigation technology like drip irrigation
and sprinkler irrigation have many advantages mainly in the form of water and
fertilizer saving, increase in crop production, removal of weeds etc. These
technologies need pressure and energy mainly in the form of electrical energy
for their working operation.
Thus, pressurized irrigation technologies are totally dependant on supply
of electricity. It is major bottleneck of these technologies. A new innovation
has been made in the field to run the drip irrigation system in small land
holding with gravitational energy rather than commonly used electrical energy.
It has been named as low pressure drip irrigation technology.

THE TECHNOLOGY
In 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

Layout of low pressure drip irrigation technology

like brick, stone, wood, plank is made of minimum 1.5 m height to place the
water tank of 5001000 liter over it. Normally, 1,000 litre tank is sufficient to
irrigate 1,000 m2 area of different types of horticultural crops. The lateral or
bed 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 in
this system. The hydraulics of low pressure drip irrigation system has been
studied 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 has
another major advantage in this area of fertigation as the same water supply
irrigation tank is used for supply of fertilizers and other micronutrients.
Normally, commonly used fertilizers and micronutrients are directly
used in irrigation tank and supplied to crops. Thus, we can see that low
pressure drip irrigation technology has simplified and economized the
pressurized drip irrigation technology. This system is now particularly suitable
for Indian villages and Indian farmers. Low pressure drip irrigation technology
is getting into the villages due to its advantage over pressurized drip irrigation
technology for the use of the system without electricity as many Indian
villages have erratic and limited electricity supply.
The system is very popular among the farming community as it is
technically simple and easy to use in the field. The system can be installed,

used, maintained and replaced by one small family. Therefore, it is sometimes

also known as family drip irrigation system. We all know that land holding
area is decreasing in our country due to increasing population and there is a
shift towards use of protected cultivation and use of horticultural crops.
In all these scenario, low pressure drip irrigation technology is extremely
suitable and beneficial for Indian farmers. Low pressure drip irrigation
technology is particularly suitable for protected horticulture and greenhouse
farming, where the land holding is small and there is a precise need of water
and fertilizers.

Its Future in Jharkhand

Jharkhand is a severely food deficit and poor state with 44% of population
as BPL families, 67% of worker force are engaged in subsistence farming.
Potential of water resource is poorly developed, less than 10% of gross
cropped area is only irrigated, 85% of the cultivable area is mono-cropped
with very low productivity compared to other states and all India average.
There is a stagnation of yield of cereal crops, poor price realization and
market 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 increasing
productivity and optimal resource utilization.
This assumes even more significance in Jharkhand, where agricultural
canvass is dotted with rainfed cropping pattern, coupled with undulating land
and 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, Ratu
Block and Janum Village at Angara Block of Ranchi district have successfully
proven that a small intervention in the form of finance and technology can go
a long way in improving cash flow of small and marginal farmers.
Jharkhand has a conducive environment for vegetable cultivation and by
using appropriate drip irrigation technology; vegetable crop productivity can
be enhanced. This has been demonstrated at Block ANGARA, Ranchi, by
Jharkhand State Livelihood Promotion Society (JSLPS) and NABARD with
the help of a service providing agency, MAATI Agrotech Private Ltd. The
technical help for installation of low pressure drip irrigation system and
polyhouses has been provided by Centre for Protected Cultivation Technology,
Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi.

Outcome of Technology





Increased farm productivity of participating farmers and an annual

income generation of more than Rs 50,000/1,000 m2 of cultivation
area.
Increased local employment opportunities in on-farm and off-farm
activities, leading to reduce distress migration.
Increased livelihood options to participant families (>2 options per
family).
Inclusion in basic banking facility to build a capital base for farmers.
Wider and easier access to finance for setting up village based
enterprises.
Better realization of price of farm products through post-harvest
management, value-addition and market linkages.
Empowered and vibrant peoples organizations addressing their own
developmental 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 Marketing

There has been concern in the recent years regarding the efficiency of
marketing of fruits and vegetables in India. It is believed that poor efficiency
in marketing channels and poor marketing infrastructure are leading not only
to 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 supply
spatially and over time. With growing demand and accompanying supply
response, fruits and vegetables have assumed great importance.

Off-Season Market
The off - season vegetable market in the entire region is a key focus area.
For example during monsoons the local production of tomato is negligible and
all major market in the eastern zone depend on supplies from the southern
states. The tomato prices during June-October range from Rs 15 to 20/kg and
demand in towns like Ranchi and Jamshedpur touches 30-40 tonnes/day.
Whereas tomato price in peak season (NovemberMarch) comes down to
Rs 1-2/kg, providing no commercial gains to farmers. The other emerging

Off-season produce ready for marketing

market is the mushrooming organized retail sector. The demand for quality
produce at a premium price from this sector can only be catered through
organised cultivation. This project has the potential of monopolizing this
sector in region. The project aims to organize farmers. As project aims at
supporting 100,000 farmers, it wishes to create alternate market mechanism
like Rythu Bazaar.

Greenhouse Capsicum:
harbinger of prosperity
Both Ayush Khemka and Jayant Ghosh have become the icons among
other 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 traditional
crops.
In 2006, two young educated farmers, Ayush Khemka and Jayant Ghosh,
took training on Protected Cultivation of Horticultural Crops at the Centre for
Protected Cultivation Technology (formerly Indo-Israel Project) at Indian
Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi. Immediately after getting the
training with the help of National Horticulture Board, they build a naturallyventilated greenhouse of 5,800m2 size on their own land, lying 20 km away
from Ranchi.
Initially, they started cultivation of Capsicum in greenhouse. Four
varieties, Indra, Orobelle, Swarna and Bombay, were sown. They raised virusfree nursery of all varieties in plug trays in a greenhouse. After 35 days, virus-

Capsicum growing in greenhouse and its fruits (inset)

free seedlings were transplanted in naturally-ventilated greenhouse. All the

recommended CPCTs package of practices were followed. The whole crop
duration was of 10 months under greenhouse, starting from May to March, the
first 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
5,800m2 greenhouse area. Ayush Khemka and Jayant Ghosh were quite fortunate
and 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 average
price of Rs 33/kg, giving a gross income of Rs 21.70 lakh in 10 months from
an area of 5,800m2 of naturally-ventilated greenhouses.
The basic reason for high gross income was opening of Reliance Fresh
outlets and non-cultivation of Capsicum crop by common farmers around
Ranchi. The price range of Capsicum fruits was Rs 15-60/kg. During critical
period of August and September, the price of green fruits was Rs 50-60/kg, but
it was below Rs 20/kg during October, November and February.
A good start never ends, experiencing a high profit from Capsicum
business, Ayush and Jayant converted 8.0 acres open field under naturallyventilated 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 term
of yield and income.
There footprints were followed by other farmers and that was another
start for them. A business always gives birth to a new business; they grabbed
the other side of the coin and started fabricating protected structures by using
good 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 the
technique of raising vegetable crops like tomato, chilli, brinjal etc. in raised
beds equipped with drip irrigation and plastic mulching under open field
conditions. This has also been successful in disseminating it among fellow
farmers.
Now, both Ayush and Jayant are happy and source of inspiration to other
farmers.

10

Arvind Beniwal: an icon for

strawberry cultivation
Ram Ashrey
Arvind Beniwal has become an icon for strawberry cultivation. He is a
source 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 commercial
venture. 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 by
Mother Diary SAFAL agency throughout the production season. His
strawberry 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 DD
National and AIR (All India Radio) several times. Now, he is recognized as
STRAWBERRY ICON among farming community. Some more area has
come 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. For
the last 8 years, farmers are successfully cultivating strawberry, earning lakhs
of rupees from one acre of strawberry. More area has come under the cultivation
of strawberry.
Further, scientists convinced and persuaded Arvind Beniwal to practise
intercropping in his strawberry field with high-value crops. Mr Beniwal
earned Rs 6 lakh/ha extra income by cultivation of Capsicum and yellowfleshed watermelons as intercrop in strawberry field. It is worth mention over
here that he has not involved extra input (except seed and labour) as intercrop
thrives well on residual effect of nutrients applied during strawberry crop.
Mr Beniwal adopted an integrated approach to reap maximum benefit
from protected cultivation. Seed or planting material is the key to success,

11

Arvind Beniwal at his farm

Strawberry growing in his farm

Packaging of strawberry

Strawberry fruits packed in CFB boxes

Intercropping of melons in
strawberry field

Capsicum planting on the beds of

strawberry 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 due
to bad weather and higher infestation of insect pests and diseases. Then, he
shifted his runner production site to Kullu-Manali.

12

Now, he is producing quality runners for own use as well as selling to

other growers. He is using polyhouses and low tunnels for runner production
in order to get disease-free planting material. Looking his prospective
endeavour, other farmers also started hi-tech nursery.
Since area under high-value crops is increasing very fast for supplying
the planting material to farmers, nursery production in polyhouse/shade net
house is gaining popularity. Looking into the success, NHB has also taken
hi-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 one
innovation 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 involves
2530% cost on runners. Mr Beniwal does not stopped here, he developed his
own brand of strawberry fruits, Arvinds Strawberry. With this brand name,
he is sending his strawberries to Kolkata, Jaipur, Udaipur, Delhi and Agra.

13

Seedless cucumber for

farmers prosperity
Sunil Sharma started cultivation of seedless cucumber and earned good
fame. Now, he is busy in fabricating and repairing of greenhouses as an
added 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, Indian
Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, in April 2010. In 2011, he planted
seedless cucumber in 1,000 m2 naturally-ventilated greenhouse. He procured
2,500 seedlings of seedless cucumber variety, Kian, in August 2011 and
followed all standardized package of practices.
He follows all the Good Agricultural Practices and has excellent crop
management skill. He harvested 50.0 quintal of seedless cucumbers from 8

Sunil Kumar inside his greenhouse

14

September 2011 to 12 January 2012, from 1,000 m2 area of greenhouse. He

marketed the entire produce by his own vehicle to niche markets of Jaipur and
Delhi @ Rs 30/kg. The second crop of cucumber (var. Hilton) was planted on
28 December 2011 again in area of 1,000 m2. 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 m2
for naturally-ventilated greenhouse at his farm. Not only this, he is also
utilizing the space between 2 beds by intercropping leafy vegetables. Sunil
Sharma, has also planted 6.0 acres of muskmelon for off-season cultivation
under 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 the
field of protected cultivation. His success story certainly boosts up the morale
of unemployed youth who are also interested to enter into the field of protected
cultivation of vegetables in various parts of the country.

15

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 (both
indigenous 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 microtubers
and their subsequent management. Subsequently, protocol for production
of 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 are
indexed 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 micropropagated
plantlets grown under protected cultivation at TIFAC-CORE, Thapar University,
Patiala. This technology is exploited to produce mini-tubers from cultivars
provided by industries such as PEPSICO India Holdings Ltd and McCain
Foods. Cultures provided by these companies are maintained under aseptic
conditions. Mini-tubers of these cultivars are produced and supplied to these
companies as per their requirement. This partnership between industry and
research institution is now more than 15 years old.

TECHNOLOGICAL INTERVENTION
Optimization of Medium
The medium was optimized with respect to its composition and quantity
for the culture of shoots. It was established that shoots can be propagated
successfully on plant growth regulator-free (PGR-free) basal Murashige
and Skoog (MS) medium. Different quantities of medium were tested in
500 ml culture bottles and it was established that 30 ml of culture medium

16

A: A view of cultures in incubation room; B: plantlets grown in culture ready for

transfer to field; C: microtubers of potato in cultures; D: acclimatization of plantlets
in polyhouse; E: inset net tunnels used for protected cultivation; F: potato crop
growing under protected cultivation in insect net tunnels used for protected cultivation;
G: minitubers being graded for packaging and dispatch.

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

17

Carbohydrate Source
Carbohydrates 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 successfully
adopted for micropropagation of potato.

Subculture Cycle
For 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, on
the other hand it does not result in substantial gain in achieving higher
propagation rate.

Inoculum Density
Different number of explants per culture vessel was subcultured and it
was found that when 30 explants were cultured per culture vessel, maximum
multiplication rate of 3.8 was achieved. Whereas, when 10 explants were
cultured per culture vessel, a multiplication rate of 2.2 was only achieved at
the end of culture cycle. The effect of inoculum size on growth and
multiplication of cultures has also been reported earlier. During final subculture
cycle, when 30 plantlets were cultured, 28.5 plants/bottle were produced. On
the other hand, when 10 explants were cultured 6.5 plants/culture bottle were
produced. Therefore, an inoculum size of 30 explants/culture bottle is being
used for commercial production of plantlets.

Planting Time
The planting time in field had an impact on number of tubers produced
per plant and average size of minituber produced. Therefore for attaining
proper 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 were
also less. The plants planted during the last 10 days of October showed higher
survival and more number of tubers were produced per plant. Under Patiala
conditions, plants planted during different dates of October showed survivial
and production as shown in Table 1.

18

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

Dates of
planting

Survival
(per cent)

Average tuber
size (g)

Average number
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

Dehulming
The dehulming period had an impact on quality of tubers produced. It
was worked that for production of healthy tubers, dehulming before the buildup of vector population is nacessary. To achieve this objective, dehulming of
crop under protective cultivation can be carried out by 30 January, when
vector population is still lower. Such crop resulted in production of healthy
seed tubers.

Virus Indexing of Minitubers

The produced tubers are indexed for viruses using enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). About 98 per cent of samples are turned out to be
negative for all the reported viruses of potato in India. Further, sample that
shows some positive reaction with ELISA, when these are tested using
molecular techniques such as PCRRT-PCT are turned out to be negative for
viruses. Thus, an efficient and reliable technology for production of healthy
mini-tubers is standardized.

Yield Revenue Generation

Sustained 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 at
TIFAC-CORE, Thapar University, Patiala, it was possible to maintain the
sustained 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 maintain
the facilities at TIFAC-CORE on one hand and developed a strong industry
partnership on the other hand. Thus, this is am important activity meeting the
fundamental objectives of industry.

19

Off-season summer squash

fetches more
This technology has been developed and standardized for off-season
cultivation of vegetables by the Center for Protected Cultivation
Technology (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 squash
cultivation 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 CPCT
and met Dr Balraj Singh, the then In-Charge. He was very much impressed
after seeing the crops under plastic low-tunnel. He planned and took all related
advice 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

Date of transplanting under tunnels
Area under tunnels
Removal of plastic of tunnels*
First harvesting
Last harvesting
Total yield
Total cost of cultivation including plastic of tunnels,
hoops etc.
Gross income (@Rs 819/q)**
Net income
Cost:benefit ratio

10-11-2006
15-12-2006
1.0 acre
12-2-2007
15-3-2007
18-5-2007
80.0 q
Rs 25,000
Rs 65,500
Rs 40,500
1:2.62

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

20

is using this technology for the last three years. During last year, Sanjeev
Ahuja used this technology in an area of one acre for growing off-season
summer squash hybrid, Chandrika, which is round in shape. Sanjeev Ahuja is
extremely 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. He
is now interested to use this kind of technology every year for off-season
cultivation of different cucurbits also.
After getting success in plastic low-tunnel, he has now put another four
acres of his land under protected cultivation by using shade net technology.
Since last three years, he is growing tomato and other vegetables during
typical summer months under temporary shade net house conditions from
June to August and getting higher price of tomato and other vegetables.

21

In Greenhouse...
Tomato cultivation is lucurative
By adopting hi-tech farming practice, Yogendra Singh has become an
icon for other farmers of the region, his progressiveness to adopt modern
practices is much rewarding both economically and socially. He is very
much satisfied with technological intervention.
A farmer, Yogendra
Singh of Ekla Village in
Meerut district of Uttar
Pradesh, was growing
sugarcane and other
traditional crops. This
conventional cultivation has
frustrated him due to low
income. Coincidentally, he
visited Centre for Protected
Cultivation Technology
(CPCT), IARI, New Delhi,
and met Dr Balraj Singh,
the then In-Charge, CPCT.

Bumper tomato crop in greenhouse

Looking to the modern techniques of cultivation under protected

structures, he was very much impressed. In one of the demonstation made at
CPCT of tomato under naturally-ventilated greenhouse, he enquired more and
planned to replicate it at his own farm. He took an initiative and constructed
a naturally-ventilated greenhouse of 1,000 m2 at his farm. He procured seedlings
of tomato variety, GA-600, from CPCT, New Delhi.
He followed all the cultural practices recommended by CPCT. During
very first year, he produced 125 q of quality tomato, earning a gross income
of Rs 2.0 lakh by direct selling it to nearby hotels located in Cantonment area
of Meerut city. The gross income was comparatively low as it was expected
due to late transplanting of seedlings.

22

A normal harvesting can be taken from mid-October and continued till

May if transplanted in July. During second year (2012), he took care of
timings and transplanted the crop in August. The crop is still continuing in
greenhouse. Interestingly, he has taken 150 q of tomatoes, earning an amount
of Rs 1.9 lakh till February 2013. He will continue harvesting the produce up
to May 2013, which may give an additional produce of 40-50 q worth
Rs 50,000. In actual terms he got less income from the produce due to low
price of tomatoes prevailing in market. But quantity produced was as expected
by intervention of greenhouse technology.
The bumper harvest, which he will take this year, has motivated him to
extend area under protected cultivation. Now, he has planned to convert one
acre in addition to previous 1,000 m2 under naturally-ventilated greenhouse.

23

Protected cultivation to make hill

farmers prosperous
J.C. Bhatt, Manoj Bhatt and K.K.S. Bisht
Vivekananda 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 4,794.5
2
m . 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 to
the farmers in plains, i.e. potential of cultivation of vegetables in hills when
they 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 mitigated
to a large extent by protected cultivation. In view of the advantages offered by
protected cultivation, a project was undertaken during 2005-06.
Currently, project is
active in three villages, viz.
Dudholi, Todara and
Pokhrar. The project was
initiated in these villages in
late 2008. The villages,
Dudholi and Todara are
under Dwarahat block of
Almora district, whereas
Pokhra village is under
Tomato growing in polyhouse at Dudholi village
Dhari block of Nainital
district 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.

24

Similarly, the yield of Capsicum was 256 and 390% higher than the yield in
open 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 open
fields due to its better fruit appearance and firmness.
Reduced cost of pest management: Because of closed environment, the
efficacy of chemical can be realized to a far greater extent, thereby reducing
the 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 a
success that next year the area under cucumber rose from 20 to 500 m2.

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

and 2010-11 (right)

Sliding door: The provision of

dual door, one of polythene and
another of the net, implies that doors
have to open in opposite directions,
i.e. one door to open towards the
inside of polyhouse and another
towards outside. Thus, semicircular
area with the radius equal to width
Polyhouse with sliding door is ideal
of door has to be left unused inside
the polyhouse. A farmer, with carpentry skill, has devised the sliding door
which requires only the path to be left unused.

25

Cow urine: A farmer at Pokhrar village sprayed the tomato crop in

polyhouse 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, now
gives Rs 10,000 from the same area. We were imparted knowledge about the
identification of diseases and insects and their control.
Gopal Singh Rawat, village Todara
The 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 a
very good return from tomato and Capsicum. Now, I have started to grow
nursery in polyhouse.
Jeet Singh, village Dudholi
I started to work in polyhouse after getting associated with Vivekananda
Parvatiya Krishi Anusandhan Sansthan, Almora, which resulted in higher
production and market price of tomato, Capsicum and cucumber. I had honour
of receiving Innovative Farmer Prize at IARI, New Delhi, due to polyhouse
technology of the institute.
Roop Singh, village Pokhra
I could not get enough yield due to low land holding. However, since
obtaining the polyhouse from the institute, I get five-fold benefit compared to
the crop grown outside the polyhouse. I wish to have more polyhouse in my
remaining land.

26

Greenhouse vegetables:
a boon to Uttarakhand farmers
D.K. Singh
Many farmers in Uttarakhand tried for cultivation of cucumber and
tomato 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 and
Nityanand Chaubey from Sui, Champawat, each with polyhouse area of
200 m2; Manoj Chauhan from Bannakhera, U.S. Nagar with polyhouse area of
8,000 m2; Sanjay Goel from Jaspur, U.S. Nagar with polyhouse area of
8,000 m2; Kushal Pradhan from Jhankat, U.S. Nagar with polyhouse area of

Krishan Dutt Chaube looking his crops in polyhouse

27

Polyhouse at Hasnwala, Haridwar

500 m2; Ravi Mohan Sharma from Mota Haldu, Nainital, with polyhouse area
of 3,000 m2; Devendra Sachan from Sahastrapur, Dehra Dun with polyhouse
area of 12,000 m2; Danjay Garg from Hasanwala, Haridwar, with polthouse
area of 6,000 m2 and B.S. Sandhu from Bajpur with polyhouse area of 4,000 m2,
told that earlier they were involved in production of cut flowers under their
polyhouses but due to non-availability of good market in nearby markets, now
they shifted to vegetable production, mainly tomato, parthenocarpic cucumber
and 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

28

Polyhouse at Sahastrapur, Dehra Dun

Rizk-Zawan, in soil less media. According to his opinion, all varieties are
good but those from Pantnagar gave early yield and set their fruits above 40C.
The other varieties stopped their fruit setting when temperature goes above
38C.
The farmers reported five-fold higher production in polyhouse cultivation
as 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 gave
better production as compared to those available in market. The varieties
available in the market are producing satisfactory yield only up to the
temperature of 30-35C but when temperature goes above 40C, these European
varieties available in the market stopped fruiting but during the same time
when temperature exceeded more than 40C, varieties developed at Pantnagar
gave significantly higher yield.

29

Protected cultivation pays

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

With adoption of the technologies of VPKAS, Mr Pandey, now holds

comfortable position with economic gain from his marginal land holdings
and 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 Almora
on Almora Pithoragarh road near Jageshwar, used to grow all crops under
rainfed conditions. He was not able to adequately irrigate his modest holding
of 0.2 ha. Therefore, he was not interested in agriculture and started working
as a labourer. Then, he came in contact of VPKAS (ICAR), Almora.
The scientists of the institute discussed with him about the problems
along with other similarly affected farmers in the village. Scientists examined
the terrain, saw the natural perennial springs and soon formulated a long-term
solution of water harvesting from the springs into tanks lined with low-density
polyethylene and this was linked with protected cultivation.
He was also advised to grow most suitable crops as per the location. He
quickly learned that vegetable farming in polyhouse will benefit him as it will
help in overcoming the adverse weather conditions. He was given training on
vegetable cultivation and improved techniques with initial support to implement
these works.
He constructed six low-cost polyhouses, occupying a total covered floor
area of 600 m2, out of locally available pine wood and UV stabilized sheet and
insect-proof net. These polyhouses are being utilized for growing off-season
vegetables (tomato, cucumber, cauliflower, cabbage and squash).
He has different LDPE tanks for water storage (capacity of 1,00,000
litres), 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 rotate
different vegetable crops to maintain soil fertility and manage diseases and
other pests inside polyhouse, following a well-formulated cropping sequence

30

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 also
planted saplings of sweet lemon, lemon, peach, plum, apricot etc.
Mr Pandey received best Farmer Award from Honble Agriculture
Minister, Mr Sharad Pawar, during 2010-11 for his work and awareness in the
field of Agriculture.

31

Innovative Tirath Singh is a source

of scientific awakening to vegetable
growers
Tirath Singh acquired training on hybrid seed production of chilli from
PAU, 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 village
Sandour, tehsil Malerkotla,
district: Sangrur, is a small
farmer, having 5 acres of owned
land and 8 acres of leased land.
Before 1990, he was cultivating
mainly paddy-wheat along with
desi cotton and fodder crops.
He started diversifying his
farming in 1997 by adopting chilli
cultivation in some parts of his
land and slowly increased the area
under vegetables to more than 3
acres.

Bumper cucumber crop in net house

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 him
polythene sheet free of cost to fix on the top of net during winter and rainy
seasons. He is so much inspired from the field experiments on poly net houses
and low tunnels and decided to construct one polyhouse during 2012-13.
Although he grows tomato, Capsicum and leafy vegetables, he gives
preference 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

32

Cost and returns from net house of Tirth Singh

Capsicum
Season
Seed
Labour
Fertilizer
Total expenditure
Total yield
Total produce
Total income
Net profit =total income-total expenditure

February to midMay
Rs 1,000
Rs 1,000
Rs 1,500 (DAP + cow dung)
Rs 3,500
11 quintals
Rs 17 /kg
Rs 18,700
Rs 18,700 - 3,500 = 15,200

Cucumber + Coriander
Growing season
Seed
Labour
Fertilizer
Total expenditure
Total yield
Total produce
Total income
Net profit =total income-total expenditure

SeptemberOctober
Rs 4,000
Rs 1,000
Rs 1,500 (DAP + cow dung)
Rs 6,500
22quintals
Rs 20/kg
44,000 + 2,000 = Rs 46,000
Rs 46,000Rs 6,500 = 39,500

Capsicum
Growing season
Seed
Labour
Fertilizer
Total expenditure
Total yield
Total produce
Total income
Net profit=total income-total expenditure

NovemberApril
Rs 1,000
Rs 1,000
Rs 1,500 (DAP + cow dung)
Rs 3,500
25 quintals
Rs 15 /kg
Rs 37,500
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 be
Rs 88,700

33

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

only grows the nursery for his own requirement but also sells it to fellow
farmers. He has completely stopped paddy and wheat cultivation at his farm.
He is a source of inspiration to farmers and also motivates other farmers about
the 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 Strategies
He 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

The experts inspecting cucumber crop grown in net house

34

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 awarded
with Chief Minister Award for Innovative Horticulture. His presence on the
agriculture scene is symbolic of creating new scientific awakening among
farmers for improving their income vis-a-vis socio-economic status.

35

S. Devinder Singh made vegetable

cultivation profitable
The farm of S. Devinder Singh has become a model for diversification
of agriculture in the area for other farmers. He had adopted modern
technologies, i.e. drip and sprinkler irrigation at his farm. He raises
vegetable nursery in plug trays and transplants in low tunnel and
polyhouse at his farm.
Mr Devinder Singh, a
farmer of village Mushkabad
in Ludhiana district, has 7
acres of owned land and 3
acres of leased land. To obtain
good quality and higher yield
of vegetables, he established
permanent framework for
training vegetables like
cucumber, tomato, Capsicum,
bitter gourd and bottle gourd
on bamboo sticks.

Bamboo polyhouse at his farm

He contacted Dr K.G.
Singh, PAU, Ludhiana, where he came to attend a lecture on finalizing the new
design of net house. He was having a bamboo poly-house of 500 m2 at his
farm. He is so inspired from performance of bamboo poly house and decided
to grow vegetables in polyhouses.
Now, he has established polyhouses in an area of five acres with the help
of National Horticulture Mission. He grows coloured Capsicum and tomato in
polyhouse 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, he
uses drip irrigation, plastic mulches and low tunnel technologies for water
saving and increasing the productivity.
He also visited Italy, Spain and Germany and England to acquire
information on new technologies and explore marketing contacts in vegetable
production. He had registered society under name Mushkabad Agro Help Aid

36

A delegation from California visited his farm

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

Cost of cultivation and returns from coloured Capsicum in polyhouse (2,000 m2)
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)

7,11,000

Total yield (kg)

48,000

Selling price (Rs/kg)

50

Total income (Rs)

24,00,000

Net profit (Rs)

16,89,000

37

Economic analysis of cultivation in polyhouse of Devinder Singh

Cost
Fixed cost (Rs) for 8,000 m2

74,83,564

Subsidy (Rs) (50 per cent of Rs 935 m2 area)

37,40,000

Net fixed cost (Rs)

37,43,564

Cost of polysheet (Rs) (estimated life 3-4 years)

added 5 times to make the life of polyhouse
20 years @ Rs.1 lakh/1000 sq.m

40,00,000

Total fixed cost (Rs) [3+4]

77,43,564

Depreciation cost (Rs) [(total fixed cost/20]

(considering life 20 years for structure)

38,71,78.2

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 strategies
He is going to start export of his vegetables in the international market
under trade name Quality Vegetable Produce. He says, cultivation of crops
in polyhouses is best and gives more net profit but farmers require more

Scientists inspecting Capsicum crop grown in polyhouse

38

awareness and training of cultural practices of various crops to be followed

under polyhouse. He is a source of inspiration to vegetable growers by earning
more profits from his small land holding not only in Punjab as well as
throughout 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 net
houses. Recognizing his achievements for adoption of net house, low-tunnel
technology, judicious use of irrigation water and use of sprinkler system for
vegetable nursery production, he was awarded by PAU, Ludhiana, with Chief
Minister Award for Innovative Horticulture.

39

Balbir Singh Kamboj boosting

agri-entrepreneurship
N.C. Nainwal
Amity 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 role
model for the farming community of not only in his area but for the
whole country.
Mr Balbir Singh Kamboj, from village
Nayagaon, after postgraduation in
Agriculture, joined seed industries in 1991.
Motivated by his fathers parental business
of seed processing, he came back to his village
and associated with his father in seed business
till 2005. After getting motivation from the
fast coming up polyhouse culture in the state,
he joined Flower Growers Association and
established first polyhouse for Gerbera
production with the help of National
Horticulture Board and Directorate of
Horticulture.
Mr. Kamboj picking the quality

After that, he increased the area under

produce
protected cultivation very scientifically to
13,000 m2 at his parental land in his village. Further, he established polyhouse
in new purchased area of 6,000 m2 at village Bajun in district Nainital.
Mr Kamboj has full praise to Agri-Export Development Unit, Directorate
of Horticulture, National Horticulture Board and National Horticulture Mission,
as benefited in terms of training and exposure at national level or abroad on
production technology of vegetables and production under greenhouses and
fertigation, drip and sprinkler irrigation, IPM, use of implements, machinery
and tools.

40

With the help from APEDA

and a part of as member Flower
Growers Association, he is
selling his produce in niche
markets in Delhi, ensuring proper
realization. He marketed the
Gerbera to niche markets of
Delhi, Lucknow, Kanpur and
Jaipur, at an impressive rate of
Rs 5/spike and Rs 60/dozen. He
Mr. Kamboj looking after polyhouse
is getting maximum Rs 50/spike
of his lillium and Rs 7/spike of carnation (see Box).
Present production status under protected cultivation
Place

Area
(m2)

Naya Gaon 10,000

3,000
Bajun
4,000
2,000
Total
19,000

Crop

No. of
bulbs/plant

Gerbera
60,000
Lillium
90,000
Lillium
1,20,000
Carnation
40,000

Varieties
Julia, Amilie, Reonigro, Marinilla
Yelloween, Ercolano, Brunello, Tressor
Mothers Choice, Yelloween, Courier
Dona, White dona, Domingo, Kero, Luna

After third year of entering to this business, he is getting first or second

prize at the Basantotsav, Spring Festival-Flower Exhibition and Competition
organized by Directorate of Horticulture, Government of Uttarakhand at
Governor House in Dehra Dun as under:
Year

Crop/flower

Prize

2007
2008

Carnation
Gerbera
Carnation
Gerbera
Carnation
Gerbera cut flower
Gerbera cut flower
Gerbera
Carnation
Carnation
Gerbera
Lillium
Carnation

Second
First
Second
Second
First
First
First
Second
Second
First
First
First
First

2009

2010

2011
2012

41

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

Mr Kamboj has visited Holland, China, Hong Kong and Macau to have
international exposure and interaction with international experts. He is of the
opinion 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 his
successful journey from planting to marketing, fetigation to labour management
and plant protection to packaging.
Now, he is keen to increase area under protected cultivation in the entire
area among other growers of villages. He delivers lectures for district and state
level programmes to motivate farmers about remunerative polyhouse business.
He is also giving advice to farmers about greenhouse fabrication and
renovation, repair and how to manage personally. He is of the view that "This
is a unique opportunity for young educated youth and farmers to enter into
protected cultivation as a remunerative enterprise.

42