POLYHOUSE CULTIVATION
Polyhouse/Greenhouse cultivation is a cultivation of crops under complete controlled enviromental conditions like temperature, humidity, fertilizers etc with the automated system. It is estimated that we can earn approximately 6-7 lakhs per acre net profit in a year by following proper polyhouse cultivation practices. Generally Cucumber, Summer squash, Brinjal, Tomato, Bell pepper and horticulture cut flowers like Rose, Gerbera etc are cultivated in polyhouse condition. As the crops grown in open field are exposed to varied environmental conditions like attack of insects pests and diseases, poly houses provides more stable and suitable environment for the crops.
Based on environmental control system, polyhouses can be divided in to two types
a) Naturally ventilated polyhouse
These polyhouses/greenhouses does not have any environmental control system except for adequate ventilation and fogger system facility mainly to prevent the crops from adverse weather conditions and other natural pests and diseases.
b) Environmental controlled polyhouse
These polyhouses are constructed mainly to extend the growing period of crops or to increase the off-season production of crops by controlling the light, temperature, humidity, carbon-dioxide level and the nature of rooting medium in the polyhouses.
Based on the suitability and cost of construction, polyhouses can be further divided into three types.
a) Low cost or low tech polyhouse
This is a simple low cost polyhouse structure which is constructed using locally available materials such as bamboo, timber etc. A protective covering of ultra violet (UV) film is used as a cladding material. No specific control devices are provided for regulating environmental parameters as in case of high tech polyhouses. But simple techniques like increasing or decreasing the temperature and humidity are adopted. Also light intensity can be reduced by putting shade materials like nets. This type of polyhouse is mainly suitable for cold climatic zone where the temperature can be reduced in summer by opening the side walls. These types of polyhouses are used as rain shelter during crop production.
b) Medium-tech polyhouse
This type of polyhouse is constructed by using galvanized iron (G.I) pipes. Screws are attached to the structures for the canopy cover. The entire structure is fixed to the ground in order to withstand the disturbances from wind. Exhaust fans with thermostat facility is provided in order to control the temperature. Cooling pads and mists are also arranged to maintain the optimum humidity inside the polyhouses. These polyhouses are best suited for dry and composite climatic zones where lot of care and attention has to be maintained with uniform environment throughout the cropping period.
c) Hi-tech polyhouse
In this type of polyhouses, an automatic control system is provided to control the entire range of environmental parameters in order to overcome some of the difficulties of medium tech polyhouses.
Cost required for the construction of polyhouse:
|
1 |
Low cost/low tech polyhouse without fan and pad |
Rs.300 to 500/square meter |
|
2 |
Medium cost /medium tech polyhouse with pad and fan system (without automation) |
Rs.800 to Rs.1100/square meter |
|
3 |
Expensive/Hi tech polyhouses with fully automatic control system |
Rs.2000 to Rs.3500/square meter |
Polyhouse cultivation is used mainly for the following purposes
- Raising of seedlings in the nurseries
- Raising of exotic vegetables like broccoli, lettuce, water melon, summer squash etc
- Raising of vegetable crops like Capsicum, Tomato, Cucumber, Brinjal, Cabbage
- Raising plants in polyhouses for hybrid seed production of flowers
- Raising plants for cut flower production.
- Raising potted ornamental plants.
COST ESTIMATION FOR POLYHOUSE CONSTRUCTION
Project Title: Cultivation of Rose cut flowers for domestic and export market.
The major project components required for cut flower production in polyhouse are as follows
1. Acquisition of Land
2. Acquisition of materials for polyhouse construction
3. Acquisition of planting materials
4. Acquisition of Irrigation facility
5. Acquisition of Fertilization system
6. Acquisition of separate grading and packing room
7. Acquisition of refrigerated van for transporting
8. Acquisition of office equipments
9. Import of technology
10. Labor charges
11. Technical manpower
12. Pesticides, Fertilizers, preservatives
Classification of major cost components
- Fixed cost – Permanent items like land, green house, cold storage, grading and packing room, office area etc
- Recurring cost – Recurring items like planting materials, manures and fertilizers, plant protection chemicals, electricity, transportation etc
Budget required for cultivating Rose cut flowers in one hectare of greenhouse/poly house area
- Fixed costs
| S. No. | Item | Amount in lakhs |
| 1 | Land and development | 4 lakhs |
| 2 | Office area | 2.5 lakhs |
| 3 | Fax, telephone, Computer | 1 lakhs |
| 4 | Furniture | 0.5 lakhs |
| 5 | Planting material and planting | 30 lakhs |
| 6 | Green house | 13 lakhs |
| 7 | Cold storage | 10 lakhs |
| 8 | Refrigerated van | 1 lakhs |
| 9 | Grading and packing room | 5 lakhs |
| 10 | Generator set | 2 lakhs |
| 11 | Power supply installations | 1.5 lakhs |
| 12 | Water supply system, drip irrigation and misting liners | 6 lakhs |
| Total fixed cost | 76.5 lakhs | |
- Recurring costs
| S. No. | Item | Amount in lakhs |
| 1 | Manures and fertilizers | 1 lakhs |
| 2 | Plant protection | 1 lakhs |
| 3 | Preservatives | 3 lakhs |
| 4 | Packing material | 2 lakhs |
| 5 | Air freight | 125 lakhs |
| 6 | Electricity charges / year | 6 lakhs |
| 7 | Labour charges | 3 lakhs |
| 8 | Commission / duty/ insurance | 15 lakhs |
| 9 | Salaries | 5 lakhs |
| 10 | Overhead costs | 0.5 lakhs |
| 11 | Maintenance cost | 1 lakhs |
| 12 | Miscellaneous | 3.7 lakhs |
| Total recurring cost | 166.2 lakhs | |
Total investment for producing one hactare of Rose cut flower in Polyhouse is = Fixed cost + Recurring cost = 76.5 Lakhs + 166.2 Lakhs in first year = 242.7 lakhs
Project yield
No. of rose seedlings per one hectare of polyhouse area = 60,000
No. of flowers expected per plant = 100 to 150
No. of exportable quality flowers per rose plant = 60 to 100
Price of one Rose flower in the international market = Rs. 6 to 11/-
Total exportable flowers /ha @ 100 flowers /plant = 60 lakhs flowers
Gross income through exports @ 50 flowers/plant = 300 lakhs (minimum)
Major advantages of polyhouse cultivation
- Better quality of the crop product as it is maintained in controlled environmental conditions
- Plant growth uniformity with good plant vigor Better crop growth with minimal transplanting shock.
- Increasing the production capacity of crop plants by decreasing the cropping time.
- Better sanitation maintainance.
- Good water drainage and aeration system
- Ease of handling, grading and transporting of products.
- Easy application of chemicals and fertilizers through fertigation in drip or sprink
CONCLUSION:
It is estimated that the yield under greenhouse/polyhouse cultivation can be achieved to the level of 4 to 8 times as compared to that of the open field crop cultivation. Research trials conducted at different agriculture research centers in Northern India indicated that cultivation of Tomato, Capsicum and Cucumber under polyhouse produced 1550 Kg, 1500 Kg and 1100 Kg per 100 square meter respectively. As the crops are grown in off season and the duration is about 4 to 10 months, 90% of the produce fetches higher market price when compared to the normal seasonal prices. Also by adapting simple micro irrigation and fertigation methods, the crop duration can be extended 2-3 months further and higher yield can be achieved to the level of 20-25 Kg/square meter. Therefore it is possible to grow the crops throughout the year by adopting polyhouse cultivation techniques and achieve higher crop yields.
To the bighaat.com administrator, Your posts are always well received by the community.
Can you suggest us some vendors who can supply us the polyhhouse material
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