Ratlam (Madhya Pradesh): At a time when people across the globe are demanding safer and healthier foods, a farmer in Madhya Pradesh's quaint city of Ratlam has been growing safe, chemical-free produce from a soil-less environment by using Hydroponics.
Arvind Dhakad, a young farmer from the state has been using Hydroponics - a subset of hydroculture, wherein plants are grown without soil as it uses mineral nutrient solutions in a water solvent- for the past five years in a polyhouse.
The fact that Hydroponic doesn't involve the usage of soil means that the crops grown are free from pest and disease attacks, chemical-free and nutrient-dense.
Dhakad started out with the cultivation of strawberry's and followed it with the successful farming of vegetables such as tomatoes, chilies, and capsicum, broccoli, and lettuce, among other things.
Speaking to ETV Bharat, the young farmer said, "This technique was developed in Israel. It doesn't require soil to cultivate crops. We have been using this method for the past five years."
Highlighting the benefits of this farming technology, Dhakad said, "this technique provides an opportunity to all those people who want to pursue gardening or farming but don't have enough space to do it. It is a good option for the people living in the cities, who want to grow their own vegetables for consumption."
For the urban dwellers, the technique requires less water, it maximises space as it allows for vertical farming, it requires little space and can even be carried out on windowsills, balconies, rooftops, and backyards, it produces safe and healthy crops, free from harmful pesticides and fertilisers and ensures a clean and hygienic environment for crop growth.
In a traditional soil-based system of growing produce, a plant wastes most of its energy developing a huge root system for it has to search far and wide in the soil for its food and water. In soil-less gardening, these are directly available to the plant roots by the nutrient-rich water that hydroponics uses, thus saving time and space.
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The main ingredient for growing soilless plants is adequate sunlight, which is becoming increasingly easier to replicate. Nowadays, the role of LED lighting is being widely investigated and used for promoting photosynthesis and saving energy and many are adopting it in their home practice.
