A REPORT

ON

POTENTIAL OF PROTECTED FARMING AS THE GREEN FACTORY

By

NEEL PATEL & MUNEEK SHAH

CEPT UNIVERSITY AHMEDABAD

Contract/Project/Job Number _____

A REPORT

ON

POTENTIAL OF PROTECTED FARMING AS THE GREEN FACTORY

By NEEL PATEL & MUNEEK SHAH

FOR NEEL AGROTECH PVT. LTD. AHMEDABAD 17TH JULY 2013

Abstract
Protected cultivation is a unique and specialized form of agriculture. The intent is grow crops where otherwise they could not survive by modifying the natural environment to prolong the harvest period, often with earlier maturity, to increase yields, improve quality, enhance the stability of production, and make commodities available when there is no outdoor production. Greenhouse is one type of protected cultivation technique. We have been assigned to carry out market survey of 5 districts of Gujarat, by doing which we will be able to find out success and failure probabilities of greenhouses implemented during 2010-2013 in Gujarat. Currently there are around 850 greenhouses in Gujarat and expanding at a high rate. We have till date conducted interview of around 25 people from different districts and we able to see common problems such as, not availing expected price in market and spreading of diseases which have no cure. After analyzing the data from the surveys we will be able to spot many other problems and then will try to provide probable solutions by discussing with our company guide

Introduction
What is protected agriculture? 1. It is anything that helps growers control elements such as rain, snow , heat, cold , humidity, wind , dust , pests etc. 2. It is defined as a permanent structure covering a field, whether its made of glass, plastic, or shade-net What is a Greenhouse? The term greenhouse refers to a structure covered with a transparent material for the purpose of admitting natural light for plant growth. The structure is, usually, heated artificially and differs from other growing structures. Greenhouse effect:In a greenhouse with illumination from the sun, heat enters the house with little of it escaped as the glass/plastic traps it. The temperature inside the house is much higher than outside air. Plants grown there can have more warmth and healthier. This effect is greenhouse effect. Advantages of Greenhouse: One can grow crop under controlled environment and throughout the year four to five crops can be grown due to availability of required conditions. Helps in increasing productivity and superior quality of produce Various inputs like water, fertilizer, seeds and plants protection chemicals can be controlled and easily passed to plants. Pests and diseases can be controlled in greenhouse. Export quality can be produced Limited use of water. Can be integrated with controllers and artificial intelligence. Production in a greenhouse increases yield by threefold when compared with conventional farming.

 Production in a greenhouse improves the quality of the produce by at least 50%. The output is disease free and conforms to the international hygiene standards. Production in a greenhouse reduces the harvesting period by half. Minimizing the command area optimizes land mass utilization. Any crop can be produced at any time, irrespective of the conditions prevailing outside the greenhouse, by simulating/creating the required environmental conditions. The ability to market more steady supplies is better because protected agriculture products are not as susceptible to harsh weather.

We have prepared a questionnaire for greenhouse/net house owners. This questionnaire is meant to collect detailed information of farmer, crop cultivation details, and technical details of greenhouse and market of the produce. In the survey, we will find out whether farmer had undergone training prior to implementation of the greenhouse or not. If they are trained then, we will try to find out answers to, what type of training was provided to them, by which organization/agency was it conducted? We will also compare trained farmers yield and un-trained farmers yield. This will help our organization in starting new training programmes. In technical details, we will check the level of satisfaction of farmers for services provided by Greenhouse manufacturing companies. EC(Electrical Conductivity)-pH are the critical parameter required to be maintained for better yield of greenhouse crops, therefore we are also going check the knowledge and methods employed by farmers for EC-pH controlling. EC-pH of soil and water is to be maintained at a certain level for the growth of the crop. After the survey phase, we will analyze the collected data and will be able to map the current protected cultivation industry of Gujarat state. With the help of our organization, Neel Agrotech Pvt. Ltd, we are planning to find out solutions which can increase farmers satisfaction, production yields and in turn increase their profit.

Literature Review
Industry of floriculture around the world:The world floriculture industry is in a state of unrest, with drastic changes in supply and demand positions. New markets as well as new suppliers are emerging and disappearing in short span of time. The growth potential of the industry though affected significantly by the recent global economic crisis; nevertheless, the global exports has been growing at an annual average growth rate of 10.3 percent, and at this growth rate world exports are expected to reach US$ 25 billion by 2013. The world floriculture trade is characterized by a high degree of concentration by product and sources. Developed countries in Europe, America, and Asia account for more than 90 percent of the total world trade in floriculture products. International trade in floriculture, to a large extent is organized along the regional lines. Asia-Pacific countries are the main suppliers to Japan and Hong Kong. African and other European countries are the principal suppliers to Europe's main markets, and the supplies to the USA are mainly catered by Colombia and Ecuador. Further, traditionally, international trade in flowers has been considerably governed by bilateral/multilateral agreements and tariffs and quotas such as Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), Most Favored Nation (MFN) tariff rates, NAFTA etc.

Estimates of the annual consumption of commercially grown flowers worldwide vary by source and range from US$ 40 - 60 billion. On the demand side, around 80 percent of

the consumption is accounted for by six countries, including Germany, USA, UK, France, the Netherlands and Switzerland. While worldwide consumption has been on the rise, at the same time, consumers have also become more refined in demanding new products. For example, the Russian market and its preference for very large flower bud. In addition, niche markets in the Eastern Europe are becoming prime growth prospects. To meet this growing and changing demand, production has continued to move from countries that have traditionally been consumers and growers, such as the Netherlands, to other relatively new producing countries such as Colombia, Ecuador Kenya. (Sarkar, 2011) The shift in production locations has mainly been driven by the existence of more abundant labour and land, and has been made possible by developments in air transportation and refrigeration. The impact of increased competition on prices has been varied by region. While producers in Latin America have benefited from relatively constant prices in the US market, by contrast, in European markets the impact of new African suppliers has been reflected in a downward movement of prices. Floriculture marketing is also undergoing significant changes. As supermarkets are more focused on maximizing volumes and efficiency in logistics, there is a little room for tailor-made products or delicate flowers and plants that cannot be handled in standard systems. This has been giving rise to a growing trade channel and opportunity of specialized florists and products in the floriculture markets, such as that of weddings, funerals, corporate events, and for offering exclusivity and creativity. A development that is to surely change the floriculture industry is the emergence of the online sales channel - a marketing channel that is steadily growing in the recent years with increasing urbanization, and a culture of 'saying it with flowers'. Many small units have been facing problems due to uneconomic returns and high overheads leading to reorganization and restructuring of product portfolios by entrepreneurs, which has been considerable during the recent economic slowdown. However, there is ample scope for even small and marginal entrepreneurs to exploit the

global demand of flowers with improvements in quality of planting material, infrastructure, training programmes in production, harvesting and post-harvest management techniques, product diversification, improving product availability and quality, and backed by adequate marketing support. (Ladha, 2012) Types of Greenhouses:Various types of greenhouse are designed to meet specific needs, cost and application.
(S.prasad, 2007)

Greenhouses based on shape: Lean to type greenhouse Even span type greenhouse Uneven span type greenhouse Ridge and Furrow type greenhouse Saw tooth type greenhouse Quonset Greenhouse Greenhouse types based on utility: Greenhouse for active cooling Greenhouse for active heating Greenhouse based on Construction: Wooden Framed structures Pipe Framed structure Truss Framed Structure Greenhouse based on Covering material: Glass Greenhouse Plastic Film Greenhouse Rigid Panel Greenhouse Thing to be taken care of for implementing a Greenhouse: Location Topography of land

 Climate Labour Supply Accessibility of site Availability of water Utilities Types Shade/Net-house: Cost Effective Solutions in Protected Agriculture Shade Net-house (Flat Roof)

Low cost solution in protected cultivation. Variety of covering material options as per need. Suitable for wide varieties of cultivation, nursery, research applications

Shade Net-house (Gothic Arch)

Low cost solution in protected cultivation. Variety of covering material options as per need. Suitable for wide varieties of cultivation, nursery and research applications.

Naturally ventilated greenhouse structure:Mostly used in Gujarat now a days. Naturally Ventilated Greenhouse is having vents at top and at sides. Suitable for Commercial Horticulture & Floriculture. Flexibility of Automation and precision. Low operating and maintenance cost. Features: More Height for Better Ventilation. Larger curtains & top vents for Maximum Ventilation. 2 Sides canopy, more Green Area. Heavy Gutters: High capacity gutters, 1.6mm. thick. Equipped with Trellising Wire rope.

Temperature controlling systems:-

Accurate temperature control in greenhouse is required because desired productivity and best growth of plants occurs within limit of particular temperature range. Thermometers must be located in the greenhouse at plant level and in sufficient number so that accurate data can be fetched. For young plants, thermometer should be placed near ground level.
1. Manual controlling:-

A person checks the temperature and remove side curtains accordingly for air circulation. By this temperature is manually controlled.
2. Fan Pad evaporative cooling system:-

This system is very effective in controlling temperature. Water is passed through a pad that is placed vertically in the wall. Traditionally the pad was composed of excelsior(wood shreds), but today it is commonly made of a cross-fluted cellulose material somewhat similar in appearance to cardboard. Exhaust fans are placed on opposite wall. Warm air outside is drawn in through the pad. Water in the pad,

through the process of evaporation, absorbs heat from surrounding pad and frame as well as from the air passing through the pad.

Forced Ventilation Greenhouse with Fans & Cooling Pads. Best suited for High Value commercial cultivation, Tissue Culture, Research and Experiments. Provides Complete climate control.

3. Fog evaporative cooling system:-

It is operated on the same cooling principle as fan pad system. A high pressure pumping apparatus generates fog containing water droplets with mean size of less than 10 microns. These droplets are sufficiently small to stay in the air while they are evaporating. Fog is dispersed throughout the greenhouse , cooling the air everywhere. Generally, this systems are used in are of Gujarat. Fertigation System:Fertigation Control system is a highly advanced technique of water and fertilizer management in Agriculture. It ensures about the right water quantity with right fertilizer proportion at right time, without manual efforts and labour, with an automated

mechanism. The computer operates your irrigation and Fertigation schedule through your existing drip or sprinkler irrigation system.
Most important Part of Automated Fertigation system are Control Valves

Solenoid control valves for automatic irrigation operations, AC & DC Models, with flexibility of fitting, size, assembly and application

Greenhouse Climate Control

To provide required climate to the crop, greenhouse comprises climate control. Parameters under control will be Temperature, Humidity, Light Intensity, Photo Active Radiance (PAR), CO2, and other irrigation parameters. For the same Fan & Pad system, Fogging, Shade net, are controlled with sensor feedback

Greenhouse Curtain Automation

In Naturally Ventilated greenhouses Installation of Side Rolling Curtains and Automation for the same facilitates the climate control.

Shade-net Automation

Light Intensity inside the greenhouses can be controlled with Automatic Internal Shadenet movement. A sensor based mechanism is installed to regulate the operations for shade net to control light. (Neel Agrotech Pvt. Ltd., 2010)

Overview on Diesease Nematode:Nematodes are known as thread worms. The varied effects of nematodes on plants are physiological, cellular and molecular levels have not been precisely defined, though severe epidemics caused by plant parasitic nematodes have shattered the world economy in past. Generally in vegetable (especially cucumbers) root-knot disease is found in India.

Symptoms: Specific symptoms include knots on roots which look like beaded roots. By observing the root one cannot see adult female since it is found completely inside the roots. The egg mass can be seen within knots which contain 200-500 eggs. The above ground symptoms comprise chlorosis, wilting, stunning and smalling of leaf and fruit. Causal organism: Root-knot Nematode. Host Range:It is polyphagous. It can infect more than 3,000 host plants belonging to all plats families. Control:
1. Deep summer ploughing: Two to three deep summer ploughing in May and June

at the interval of 15 days have been found effective in minimizing the nematode populations. Polythene mulching is effective.
2. Use of carbofuran 3G@1-2 kg a.i./ha is effective. 3. Hot water treatment for infested plant material at 50 c for 10 min is effective. 4. Susceptible varieties should be replaces with genetically resistant ones.

(S.prasad, 2007)

Wholesale or Retail?
Opportunities exist in both retail and wholesale growing. Generally, retail growing works best if you enjoy working with people and helping them satisfy their needs and wants. Wholesale growing is more feasible if a suitable retail location is unavailable or if you have figured out some way of providing a needed wholesale product and delivering it to your customers. Retail growing and selling directly to the customer is the easiest area to break into at present because growers can obtain higher prices for their products at the retail level. Retail growing requires an area on a paved road which is easy to find and within a reasonably large population center.

Wholesale production can take several forms. Wholesale growers almost always deliver their product to their retail customers, so transportation logistics becomes an important part of the challenge required to succeed as a wholesale grower.The customers may be retail greenhouses or florists, grocery stores, chain stores, Many wholesale growers set up truck routes and stop by their customers businesses weekly during the busy spring season. Presently this wholesale market area appears to be overproducing, and product prices have been falling during recent years. Very large regional growers are emerging with 10 to 20 acres of production. There may be opportunity to play in this market by becoming a wholesale contract grower. You might contract your production to one of the larger firms in the area and produce one or more specific product types at a predetermined price. The wholesale florist grower is the traditional wholesale grower in the industry, Florist growers usually produce a very high quality product and a wide assortment of flowers. They have scheduled production with items ready for market every week during the year. (University of Arkansas, 2011)

A look to the future The inability of people to predict the weather and control the climate persists. This is accompanied by a rising population with increasing numbers of affluent and demand-ing people who insist on improved diets. Coupled with the above are limitations of land, water, energy, mineral nutrients, and the need for improved management of all resources. Thus, we will likely see a continu-ing increase in the extent and dispersion of protected cultivation throughout the world. Only within the past 2 decades have green-houses, rowcovers, and plastic soil mulches attracted the attention of agriculturally devel-oping countries in Asia, South America, and Africa. In the United States and Europe, protected cultivation commands the atten-tion and interest of the

professional and ama-teur gardener. For horticulturists, foresters, crop, and other scientists, it provides a site for testing and verification of new technologies for open field culture. There will be new developments in the use of plastic and glass as covers for green-houses. The Dutch are successfully developing new glass structures for improved trans-mission of sunlight. Innovations in the use of plastic for non-heated structures in the tropics and semi-tropics will appear. Biodegradable and lightdegradable plastics will make their use more environmentally compatible. The development of intelligent films will open new perspectives to protected cultiva-tion .There will be films that limit the transmission of infrared solar radiation (700900 mm), thereby reducing the greenhouse effect in tropical areas, where limiting the air temperature may be desirable, or films that reconvert the radiation from the photosynthetically inactive wave lengths of the solar energy spectrum into im-proved crop productivity. (Wittwer, 1995)

Work completed till now

We have prepared a questionnaire for greenhouse/net-house owners for survey. We have selected district of Ahmedabad, Kheda, Mehsana, Gandhinagar and Sabarkantha for our survey. After getting contact details of the farmers, we started Purposive and Dimensional Sampling on the data and then started meeting the selected farmers and conducting interviews. We are also planning to conduct telephonic and video interviews.

Questionnaire for Greenhouse Owners

Full Name: _______________________________________ No of GH___________ Residence Address:

______________________________________________________________________ Greenhouse Site Address:

______________________________________________________________________ Survey No._______________________Khata No._______ Village: Ph. no Email-id: Are you a Part time or Full Time Greenhouse farmer? How did you get to know about Greenhouse Initially, from where, from whom? Taluka: District: Age:________years Education:

Have you had any training about protected cultivation? If yes, where, when and how long? If No, why? Self-implemented or company implemented then which Co.: If Company implemented, answer questions below: 1. What was the type of the contract? 2. Are you satisfied with the build quality of greenhouse? 3. Do you still take service from company? If yes then which type of help? 4. What were the specifications you were committed to provide? (Copy of quotation) 5. Was the specification delivered according to qualification/commitment? 6. Are all Irrigation and Fogger/Sprinklers system provided by which company ,and are they working as expected?

7. What kind of services do you expect for company to provide you? Initial capital cost: Subsidy from Govt.:

Loan amount _______________from which bank and branch____________________ Repayment is done or not? What is repayment schedule?

Did you hired any consultant for subsidy procedures? (If yes provide details)

Were you forced to fulfill any type of monetary demands from Govt. officers? How much?

Do you have any insurance cover for your Greenhouse? If yes then you bought it through installation company or directly?

If government is not going to give any subsidy, would you adopt this technology?

Are you associated with any agricultural associations?

Greenhouse Details(Technical):-

Greenhouse Particulars Implementation year Size (length*width*height) in meter OR Total Area in sqaure meter Gutter height (m) Operating cost

First

Second

Third

Fourth

House Type: Which of the following attributes does your greenhouse has? Self -Ventilated Design EC-pH controller(fertigation) Temperature controlled Drip Irrigation Sprinklers

Do you: a) Test your irrigation water for alkalinity and mineral content on an annual basis? b) Adjust fertilizer or irrigation practices based on the results of growing media tests?

EC-pH of soil & water: Type of soil: _______________________

Local Soil (yes or no) If no then from where and why? _____________________ Raised bed? : Know Hydroponics?:

Crop Details:Type of water source: Canal Lake Borewell Other__________

Availability of 24hr Electricity Y / N Do you have a 24-hr power under Govt. GH scheme? Tariff per unit: _____________

Crop1 Crop Name (variety) Period (plantation harvesting) Seed for GH or local where) (From to

Crop2

Crop3

Crop4

Crop5

Agronomical Support not(contact details) No. of or

labourers(rate) Labour rate

Yield (per unit area) Standard yields Reasons for

this much yield Price earned in the market

Do you know importance of EC-pH for this field? Any plan to change crop pattern in near future? Which are the crops you know that can be grown in greenhouse? Vegetables: 1. Capsicums 2. Tomatoes 3. Cucumber 4. Karela 5. Parval 6. Coriander 7. Mint Any other_____________ Fruits : 1. Musk Melons 2. Strawberries 3. Water Melons Flowers: 1. Gerbera 2. Roses

If you know about these crops then why didnt you implement them?

What is the depth of the highest anticipated groundwater?

Provide a complete listing of chemicals that are used in your greenhouse operations. This list should include the quantities and name of manufacturer.

Use a 1 to 5 scale where 1=not important, 2=less important, 3=neutral, 4=important, 5=very important. Please indicate your level of interest in learning more about the following plant production. Climate Control Disease management Water quality Nutritional management Reducing pesticide use 12 3 45 12 3 45 12 3 45 12 3 45 12 3 45 Fertigation and EC-pH control Insect management Managing wastewater Plant growth regulators Other _______________ 12 3 45 12 3 45 12 3 45 12 3 45

What parameters will help you to expand? Money Marketing Yields Transportation Labour Agro-help

MARKET:Export or Local Market? Where do you sell greenhouse produce? ____________________________

If you Dont Export then what are the reasons that restrict you from Exporting produce?

Mode of transport to the market: Cost of transport to the market:

Do you avail any help from Govt. agency for crop development?

Yes (which agency) ________

No

From where do you buy seeds/plants? From where do you buy Fertilizers? From where do you buy Insecticides?

____________________________ ____________________________ ____________________________

What are the problems you encountered while operating greenhouse?

How should be marketing should be done according to you?

According to you, your greenhouse is a success or failure? And why?

What steps government should take in order to take this industry to greater success?

If any new comer in this field wants to start up this venture, what is your advice?

---------------------------------End of Questionnaire -----------------------------------------

We have surveyed and interviewed almost 27 greenhouse/net-house owners in different regions of Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar, Mehsana and Kheda districts. We will conduct more interviews in this week for Sabarkantha district. We will be also doing telephonic interview in this week.

From our survey done till now, we have some findings with greenhouse industry, which are listed below. Poor after sales service of greenhouse structure and drip companies Farmers who applied for subsidy in 2012-2013 years have not got their subsidy till now. So some of them have built structure but could not start farming due to lack of working capital. Produce market issue- Farmers generally sell their produce to Jamalpur, Ahmedabad where they are not getting proper price. Price fluctuation in high and due to brokerage, farmers are not benefited. Cost of fertilizer and pesticides is too high. Once diseases are there in a single plant, it spreads quickly in other plants. Failure of crop due to diseases like nematodes, mites and thrips. Generally in almost all greenhouses, rust in nut-bolt is found. At Some places angles were also corroded. A major challenge greenhouse production faces is competition with field grown due to price and consumer comfort

Economics of Gerbera in 4000 sq. m Polyhouse (1 acre)

I.

Capital Investment:

1. Poly House Construction @Rs.800/sq mt Rs.32,00,000/ 2. Irrigation expenses 3. other equipments

Rs.8,00,000/Rs.2,00,000/-

Total one time investment

Rs.42,00,000/- (A)

II.

Cultivation Expenses:

1. Planting materials 28000 plants @Rs. 30/plant 2. Bed Preparation 3. Fertilizers and pesticides 4. Labour

Rs.8,40,000/-

Rs.1,50,500/Rs.3,00,000/Rs..3,75,000/Rs.84,000/-

5. Packing & forwarding @ 10 paise per flower

Total no of flowers per year

Rs. 8,40,000

Total expenses first year

Rs.17,49,000.00(B)

III.

Second year to fourth Expenses

Rs. 9,09,000 x 3

Rs.27,27,000(C)

IV. V. VI. VII. VIII.

Average Yield 30 flowers/plant /year Average rate per flower @ Rs. 3 per year Total income for 4 years Total Expenses A+B+C Gross profit at the end of 4th year

Rs. 8,40,000 Rs. 25,20,000 Rs.1,00,80,000(D) Rs. 86,76,000(E) Rs. 14,04,000

Bibliography
DrBharatShah. (n.d.). Director of Agriculture, Gujarat State. (P. Shah, Interviewer) Govt of Gujarat. (n.d.). Agriculture and Co-opeeration Department. Retrieved May 2013 Govt. of Gujarat. (2012). Horticulture Dept. Subsidy Schemes. Ladha, D. S. (2012). FLORICULTURE : INTERNATIONAL MARKETS. Retrieved June 2013, from http://floriculturetoday.in/floriculture-international-markets.html Loraine Blaxter, C. H. (2010). How to Research. England: McGraw-Hill. Neel Agrotech Pvt. Ltd. (2010). Retrieved 2013, from Neel Agrotech Pvt. Ltd.: www.neel.co.in NIC. (n.d.). Hortnet. Retrieved May 2013, from www.hortnet.gov.in Panj, M. F. (2013, May). Assistant Director of Horticulture. S.prasad, U. k. (2007). Greenghouse Management For Horticulture Crops. Sarkar, S. (2011). GLOBAL FLORICULTURE INDUSTRY TRENDS AND PROSPECTS. Retrieved June 2013, from http://www.floriculturetoday.in/Global-Floriculture-IndustryTrends-and-Prospects.html University of Arkansas. (2011). Starting a Greenhouse Business. Agriculture and Natural Resources, p. 4. Wittwer, C. (1995). Protected Cultivation of Horticultural Crops Worldwide. 17.