It is often considered that vertical gardening is one of the expensive method of farming. But Sunita Prasad, a homemaker from Bihar, is proving this theory wrong. She used two 5-foot PVC pipes and bamboo to harvest up to 5 kg of vegetables and fruits every week.
Produce is organically grown
This vertical farming cost Sunita less than Rs 1,000 to set up her garden, and just Rs 60 to install the bamboo pipes. She employed vermicomposting to make sure that the produce is organically grown. She grows brinjal, okra, cabbage, strawberry, and many other seasonal vegetables.
How Sunita decided to start vertical garden
“One day while selling goods to a scrap dealer, I took note of a pipe on his bicycle and bought it instantly, in the hopes of creating something innovative out of it. But eventually, it was left laid on the roof with some soil. Many weeks later, I noticed leaves sprouting from it.” This was how Sunita decided to start a vertical garden.
“What we eat daily contains chemicals. Vegetables grown from vertical organic farming will improve people’s health and save money,” says Sunita, who urges everyone to adopt this method.
Rewards Sunita received
The 45-year-old gardener says that any produce can be grown in the pipes, from leafy vegetables to tubers. She was awarded Kisan Abhinav Samman in 2021 and also got a chance to be part of DD Kisan’s Women Kisan Award show.
What is vertical farming and its benefits
Vertical farming is an agricultural method through which crops are grown in vertically stacked layers. It is done in a controlled environment using techniques such as aquaponics, hydroponics and aeroponics, that does not make use of soil. Some benefits of vertical farming are:
1. Efficiency
Vertical farming requires a fraction of land and water with more yield per acre. Another additional benefit is that vertical farming can produce crops throughout the year. Even more that one crop can be harvested at once due to their individual land and plots.
2. Weather resistant
In a controlled environment of vertical farming factors like unpredictable weather patterns and natural disasters such floods, droughts, wildfires, etc. are negated and thus less susceptible to disruption in the supply chain process.
3. Environmental Conservation
Vertical farming helps in environmental conservation as deforestation that accompanies traditional farming can be negated, thus saving resources in the long run.
Producing food indoors reduces or eliminates conventional plowing, planting, and harvesting by farm machinery, protecting soil, and reducing emissions.
Also Read: Jawahar Model Farming: बंजर ज़मीन को गुलजार करेगी खेती की यह तकनीक, कम स्पेस में भी मुनाफा!
