Australian experts to help Indian growers go soilless

Vegetables in the Indian state of Jaipur could soon be seen growing without soil as the agriculture department is planning to cultivate a few vegetables including tomato and cucumber with the use of hydroponics. A project for this purpose will be started with the help of Australian experts, for which recently an Australian delegation visited the government’s centre of excellence at Bassi in Jaipur to study the prospects of introducing the technique in the state.

The three-member delegation, including South Australian government’s investment manager (Indian trade) Rahul Ranjan and Australian firm Ironwood’s chief consultant Mark Cody, studied the site and infrastructure at the centre. “Soon, the Australian government will send a formal proposal for sharing the technique with Rajasthan, after which the work will start,” Saini said.

For the two-year project starting from June, the agriculture department has sanctioned Rs 13 crore [2 million USD] and a committee has been formed to speed up the project. Rajasthan Olive Cultivation Limited (ROCL) will supervise the project.

Read more at DNA