◊ By Benefit Publishing Bureau

At a 2-day farming workshop organised in Nagpur, the Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Nitin Gadkari, said that hydroponic farming and organic farming were both low cost farming methods that were also high on productivity. Thus being the need of the hour for Indian farmers.

MSME-DI (MSME–Development Institute) Nagpur organised the 2-day Workshop on Hydroponic and Organic Farming and Fruits and Vegetables Processing on 16 and 17 December, 2019, in Nagpur.

The programme was conceived by Nitin Gadkari.

P M Parlewar, Director, MSME-DI, Nagpur; Girish Gandhi, President, Krishi Vikas Pratishthan; Manohar Parchure; Farmer and Entrepreneur, Naresh Arsade; Joint Secretary, Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP), V R Sirsath; Deputy Director, KVP; Rahul Mishra, Assistant Director, KVP; and VK Jha, Investigator, MSME-DI Nagpur, were present on the dais.

“Hydroponic farming has become the need of hour. It can increase the productivity of farmers as its production cost is low. This technology is very easy and beneficial for farmers,” said Gadkari, at the workshop.

The workshop covered all facets of hydroponic and organic farming. Farmers, as well as, entrepreneurs were in attendance. Such programmes will be taken up in all districts of Vidarbha by MSME-DI in the near future.

Parlewar said hydroponic farming can increase the productivity of the land, resulting in employment generation. MSME-DI will arrange the equipment needed for hydroponic farming at low costs. Parlewar also said that MSME and agriculture are closely linked with one other.

In his address, Girish Gandhi said that organic farming is developing the world over. If farming is to be looked at as a business, there is a need to professionalise it, and make it organic.

Parchure opined that for a healthy life, there is no alternative to organic farming. In order to making farming profitable, expenditure needs be reduced, and for this, organic farming is a far better option than conventional farming, he stressed. “India can export organic food products the world over as there is a huge demand for it. Farming is the only occupation where there is no loss if done organically,” he said. 

Manoj Jawanjal, an organic orange farmer from Katol, said that for successful farming, devotion and patience are needed. He said that multilayer cropping is necessary to increase the productivity of soil.

During the technical session, Dr Atul Dhok of MAFSU (Maharashtra Animal & Fishery Sciences University), gave a presentation on fodder for cattle through hydroponic farming. He pointed out that although India is number one in milk production, there is a huge deficit in demand and supply of dry fodder due to non availability of horizontal land. Therefore, its demand is more than its supply. 

Dr R P Gajbhiye, Professor of Horticulture, PDKV (Dr Panjabrao Deshmukh Krishi Vidyapeeth College of Agriculture), Nagpur, said that the interest of farmers in soilless cultivation is rapidly increasing. He listed the factors driving farmers’ interest in hydroponic farming. He also enumerated the various methods of hydroponic farming, such as root dipping, floating, capillary action, grow bag technique, hanging bag technique, pot technique, etc.

Dr R M Ghodpage, Professor of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry. PDKV, and Maithili Kowe, Manager, NABARD (National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development), gave power point presentations on NABARD’s schemes on organic and hydroponic farming.

On the second day of the workshop, participants were taken to visit a fruits and vegetables processing laboratory.