India: Farmers rush for greenhouses to meet exotic vegetable demand
The number of proposals put forward to the agriculture department to construct greenhouses with state assistance for growing of such exotic vegetables have shot up from an average of seven over the last couple of years to over 40 this year.
Coloured capsicum can be bought for as much as 30 per piece in the retail market and the high profits seems to have attracted farmers to opt for these non-conventional crops.
Under the scheme for protected cultivation of flowers and vegetables, the state agriculture department provides up to 90% assistance to set up the polyhouses or greenhouses, of which 50% assistance comes through the central government. Setting up of polyhouses can cost over 2,000 per sq m. But this scheme had not been able to garner as much interest from farmers until this year, as farmers feel that the demand now for exotic vegetables has gone up like never before.
"Over the last couple of years, I was experimenting with growing green capsicum and this year I plan to grow it on a large scale commercial basis. The planting has to begin in October or November (outdoors) and the yield is ready by January. The size of the capsicum grown in Goa is not as big as the ones brought from outside the state as the vegetable needs cold climate. But I grow them organically and when the vegetable is sold as organic and locally grown produce, you can get a very good price," Candido Dias, a farmer from Taleigao, said.
But unlike Dias, those who have benefited from the polyhouse scheme of the government can control climate inside the greenhouses where the veggies are grown. In these controlled conditions, vegetables like capsicum, though considered to require more care than others, can be grown nine months of the year.
What works to farers' advantage is that the demand is high for these vegetables in the local market, unlike many other states.
The price of green capsicum itself has shot up in Goa from 40 a kg to 60 a kg in the last couple of months. (1Rs=$0.017USD)
Source: indiatimes.com