Punjab Agricultural University has become the first Indian university to have successfully developed the low-cost indigenous greenhouse hydroponics technology to cultivate soilless vegetable for higher vegetable yield and lower water and nutrient consumption. The technology has been developed using recirculation system on the pattern of USA and Europe.
PAU research director Balwinder Singh inaugurated the technology in the research field of the department of mechanical engineering. V P Sethi, professor and head of the department of mechanical engineering, PAU has been instrumental in designing and developing the indigenous technology under the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) project.
Sethi said this technology has been developed after two years of continuous efforts and experimentation. It involves cultivation of plants in suitable size pots (two plants per pot) filled with porous root media, having properties similar to soil.