Horticulture’s net gain: Crops free from fertiliser, pest attack

Horticulture’s net gain: Crops free from fertiliser, pest attack
Rajay Deep
Tribune News Service

Bathinda, June 4
With society, including the farmers, becoming sensitive towards the threat looming over ecology, net house farming of vegetables has started gaining popularity in Malwa, which has otherwise earned notoriety for excessive use of pesticides, fast depletion of groundwater and extreme variation of climate.

Net house farming is a concept introduced to shield the crops from insects/pest attacks, with the allurement that the crop (vegetable) is pesticide-free and fetches better price. Further, it saves groundwater as drip irrigation inside the net house is very effective. Moreover, it guards the vegetables from extreme temperatures in both winter and summer.
The main crops cultivated under the net house farming are capsicum, coriander, tomato, brinjal and hybrid seedless cucumber.
Because of its beneficial effects for farmers, consumers as well as for the environment, five farmers raised net houses on their land at Maesarkhana, Lakhi Jungle, Ghudda and Gumti Kalan villages of this district, on an experimental basis, during the past two years.
A net house in Maesarkhana village was found to be closed on all sides to check the pest attack. The double door net house was designed in such a scientific way that the outer door did not lead directly to the inner door.
Expressing satisfaction over the results of the scheme, the owner of the farm, Sukhvir Singh Sidhu said, “We all know that spraying of pesticides directly affects our health. Adopting net house farming has not only saved our expenses but also gives us vegetables free from the harmful pesticides. People prefer pesiticide-free vegetables and crops. We do not have to go to the market to sell our vegetables. Instead, people come to us. The quality of vegetables is much better than the normal produce.”
The technique is also being used to cultivate early vegetables, which starts providing income earlier than the vegetables sown in an open area. It proves beneficial for small farmers as they get higher yields and reap better profits.
The net house campaign in Punjab is being run as a joint venture by the Farmers’ Commission and the state horticulture department.
District Horticultural Development Officer Narenderjit Singh said, “Raising a net house farm is not very expensive as a net house over one kanal of land costs only Rs 1 lakh. Of this, 40 per cent is borne by the Farmers’ Commission as subsidy. Among other measures, net house farming is very effective in preventing social-cum-ecological strife.”