Poly-house farming pilot project in Vizianagaram

VISAKHAPATNAM: The Vizianagaram horticulture department has launched a poly-house farming pilot project to promote cultivation of salad vegetables like European cucumber during the summer.


According to horticulture experts, more than 800 hectares of land is being utilised for vegetable cultivation in Vizianagaram and Parvathipuram revenue divisions of the district.

Additional director, horticulture department, GV Lakshmi said that the department was trying to increase acreage every year and mandals which have regular summer showers are being targeted.

“Mandals such as Makkuva, Salur, Pachipenta, S Kota and Rambhadrapuram experience heavy summer showers, hence, we are targeting these mandals, most of which are in the Parvathipuram division,” GV Lakshmi said.

However, when asked if the actual acreage under cultivation had gone up this summer, Lakshmi said that there has been a 10% increase in acreage this year.

With regard to poly-house cultivation, she said that the main focus was on cultivation of salad vegetables such as European cucumber, tomatoes, radish, spinach and cauliflower . “There is a lot of demand for salad vegetables during the summer and we want farmers to cash-in on the demand. As such vegetables cannot be grown in open farms during summer; the shade-cultivation method has been introduced,” Lakshmi noted.

Sources in the department said that the project would although the project currently extends to only five to six acres, it would be pushed further depending on its success in the Ramabhadrapuram mandal, where the experiment is being conducted. Rambhadrapuram is warm and not very close to the agency and is an ideal place to test this method of farming, sources said.