Indian farmers are strong believers in the traditional farming methods using good soil, water and abundant sunlight. The faming trends are changing across the world and India is bound to follow these trends.
Scientifically speaking, plants need water, nutrients and sunlight to grow and complete the process of photosynthesis. Hence, technically the traditional farming methods might not be the only mode of growing crops. Hydroponic farming provides the plants with nutrients and water through the liquid mix and sunlight can be accessed either naturally or by using a lighting system that helps in providing the exact amount of light and heat that is needed to create a conducive environment for plant growth.
In India however, hydroponic farming is still an infant industry and a majority of the countries commercial agricultural industry is still using traditional modes. A few farmers in India, who are forward thinking are using innovative techniques like hydroponic faming to cultivate crops. But even these units grow only micro greens in the hydroponic facilities. It is a far away goal for the Indian agricultural system to adopt hydroponic farming in the mainstream crops of mass consumption like wheat and rice.
The rise of hydroponics in India:
While the hydroponic industry is still an infant where most farms are run as start-ups, there are large foreign firms which are already established in their home country that are entering the Indian market. This will improve the commercial acceptance of hydroponic faming and show a success of the methods adopted by it. India has about 40 actively functioning hydroponic farms. Southern India has the biggest share of hydroponic farms of various sizes, that are concentrated near metro cities due to low yields and their proximity to centers that demand for a logistic convenience.
The population of India is among the fastest growing number worldwide which causes an extremely high rate of the decreasing land availability. India’s problem of limited cultivation land can be reduced and even entirely overcome by the adoption of hydroponic farming. The adoption of hydroponic faming could lead to a new green revolution where the farmers and public of the county become more aware of the rising land and water crises and advance to a technology that overcomes these problems. This will also help in creating a cleaner environment that will boost the standard of living of the citizens.
There are various benefits of shifting to hydroponic farming as a country. It will reduce the pest and weed production which will in turn reduce the manual labor that goes in to the actual production process. Chemicals like artificial pesticides, weedicides and insecticides will also be used less which in turn will increase the quality of the crops produced for human consumption.
There various companies that support farmers to shifting to hydroponic farming from traditional farming. The goal of this shift is to empower farmers and reduce their dependency of natural factors like rain and soil density. This shift has been attracting more and more farmers to adopt hydroponic farming in India which is an extremely positive move for the country as a whole.