Workshop on hydroponic farming held

The Centre of Floriculture and Agri-Business Management (COFAM) department of North Bengal University has organised a three-day training workshop on Hydroponic farming for the farmers who live in areas where the water table is low. Farmers from Meghalaya participated in the training workshop which was held at the North Bengal University premises.

Wednesday was the last day of the workshop. The farmers expressed happiness on completing the training. “It was a wonderful experience to participate in the workshop. We hope this will help us in the future,” said Jiten Marak, a farmer who had participated in the workshop.

Amarendra Pandey, the trainer of COFAM Department said, “Cultivation in this method is very profitable. There have been many success stories under the supervision of COFAM Department of the University.” Earlier, the COFAM department of North Bengal University had achieved great success in hydroponic farming.

This method of cultivation is especially profitable in areas where the water table is low. Therefore, training arrangements had been made for the 13 farmers from Meghalaya with the help of the Meghalaya government. The training commenced on April 24.

There are two methods of hydroponic farming, the circulating method and non-circulating method.

In both the methods, the farmer can install greenhouses, plastic houses, vinyl houses or poly tunnels. All types of crops can be grown throughout the year with this method. The quality of the crop is much better than field crop. However, the cost of making this system is a little higher. For this, it is better to choose a plastic house or vinyl house or poly tunnel for hydroponic cultivation. Raja Bramha, the Nodal officer of Meghalaya said: “We are hopeful that by learning this method, the farmers will be able to successfully farm in their places.”