Avnish Patel of Bangalipur village in Varanasi district built a 0.25-acre naturally ventilated poly house for protected cultivation with the help from the Uttar Pradesh state horticulture department. His tomato crop in the net house failed due to incorrect sowing timing and a lack of proper management practices. He faced a massive loss and decided to close the net house.
In July 2021, a team of scientists from the ICAR-Indian Institute of Vegetable Research (IIVR), Varanasi, visited the poly house. The tomato crop failed due to a lack of technical knowledge in protected cultivation, and the scientists decided to use the poly house for demonstrations of capsicum and tomato cultivation.
Scientists from ICAR-IIVR provided technical assistance for growing capsicum varieties Swarna Atulya and two hybrids from private companies, Rehana and Huntington. All schedules for cultural operations were provided to him in advance, and scientists monitored each operation in real-time.
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As a result, Avnish Patel harvested capsicum 15 times (up to the second week of May 2022), yielding a total of 2,864 kg in seven months and a net income of Rs. 1.27 lakhs from 0.25 acre.
He demonstrated his success story at the International Conference on Vegetable Research and Innovation for Nutrition, Entrepreneurship, and the Environment (ICVEG-21), which was held at ICAR-IIVR from the 14th to the 16th of December 2021.
On February 17, 2022, a field day on protected cultivation was planned to demonstrate the technology to other farmers. Dr. TK Behera, Director of ICAR-IIVR, has promised to provide technical assistance to other poly house owners in eastern Uttar Pradesh.
(Source: ICAR-Indian Institute of Vegetable Research, Varanasi)
