The Kumaon commissioner Deepak Rawat said that hydroponicvegetable cultivation will be taken up as a pilot project in Nainital district and depending on the results this technique for vegetable cultivation will be promoted in other parts of Kumaon. He said this while conducting an inspection of Uttarakhands first hydroponic polyhouse in Kotabagh block of Nainital district on Tuesday. Various vegetables are being cultivated in the polyhouse through the hydroponic technique without the use of and it takes less time in the production of vegetables than the usual methods of farming.
The Nainital District Administration is also considering promoting this practice among farmers to increase the production and supply of vegetables across the State and nearby States. A budget has been fixed in Nainital districts plan to promote this project among farmers and start it in the district as a pilot project. The administration will take further actions in other districts of the division on the basis of the outcome of the pilot project, said the commissioner.During his visit to the hydroponic polyhouse, the commissioner also observed various vegetables like lettuce, tomatoes and cabbage grown in the polyhouse. Rawat said that cultivation through hydroponic technique is based on aquaculture in which waste generated by fish is used as manure for vegetables Growth and no chemical fertilisers are used for any purpose as done in the usual Farming practices. Besides this, the growth period of vegetables produced through hydroponic technique is much faster than the usual growth time of vegetables. We observed in the polyhouse that tomatoes were ready in 75 days and lettuce was ready in just four weeks which is quite less time than the time taken during normal farming. All vegetables grown through this technique are of good quality, said the commissioner.
He said that considering the benefits of growing vegetables as per hydroponic practice, it will be promoted in mountainous areas of Kumaon division. The State also has potential markets for the vegetable supplies like Delhi which can be explored through the hydroponic technique.