Have you ever thought of growing plants without soil? Sounds weird? There’s a new technology doing rounds in the agriculture market, which could change both the course and future of farming
BHUBANESWAR: For millennia, the state of Odisha has been a pioneer in farming. The farmers have cultivated plants, grew various kinds of crops, and developed different farming techniques with the help of advance science and technology.
Now there’s a new method, by which the state farmers can develop a self-sustaining farm even without the need of soil. Through the process of Hydroponics, one can grow plants in water without using soil. The main components used by plants are water and nutrients, which makes it possible to grow a plant without soil.
Once all the essential nutrients which are required by plants are provided through some other source like a water solution (nutrient-rich solution) containing all the necessary nutrients, one can eliminate the use of soil to grow plants.
According to latest research, there is advanced agronomy technology with Hydroponics. People all around the world seek healthy food grown in a safe environment, where Hydroponics seems to be fulfilling that need. Orissa Post interacted with agriculturist Ekadasi Nanda who said that Hydroponics is the game changer in the agriculture industry. The main concern is to bring the plant in direct contact with the nutrient-rich water solution.
One can start Hydroponics as a mean of additional income by growing and selling plants without much hassle. This technology is all set for commanding a formidable position in the agriculture industry as it doesn’t demand any particular skill required for growing plants. Also, there’s no prior cost involved. By adopting this technology, you can utilize your space and reduce the use of chemical fertilizers for the growth of plants.
This technology has proven to be one of the best for growing crops in urban areas. With all the advantages of Hydroponics system, there are fair chances that this can change the course of the future by restructuring the cities and making them more environment-friendly. Hydroponics can be a game changer for the agriculture industry.
However, it’s not a cakewalk as it seems like, one needs to have access to the proper guidance of subject matter experts to grow and maintain the plants through Hydroponics. My Urban Greens (an initiative by IFFCO Kisan), for instance, is serving similar kinds of services to the urban population and progressive farmers by providing them a customised solution as per their requirements.
Sandeep Malhotra, MD and CEO, IFFCO Kisan, said, “There has been a great hue and cry about the scarcity of water; Hydroponics is emerging as a boon in the agriculture industry as well as in common households. Through this process, plants consume less amount of water in comparison to the conventional gardening system. It’s not just about saving water, but it is observed that plants grown by hydroponics technique consist of 50% more vitamins and it grows faster than traditionally grown plants. It is more profitable for farmers to grow plants through this technology.”
He further added, “IFFCO Kisan provides experts’ advice and services to urban people, FPO’s and progressive farmers related to the right and best practices of Hydroponics farming. We have initiated crop specific advisory services and support in vernacular languages to make this technology easily understandable to the farmers and urban people. We are encouraging and supporting them to adopt this technology and in alignment with that, several training programs are also lined up across different states of the country.”
