Greenhouse farming answer to rampage by global warming

BERHAMPUR: As warming of the climate gathers alarming pace posing a danger to agriculture, greenhouse cultivation is the only answer to save crops of flowers and vegetables, experts have said.

Greenhouse farming, which is the cultivation of plants inside a building with glass walls and roof under controlled condition, has become necessary as temperature ideally required for flower cultivation is no longer available, not even during winter.

Floriculturists say that the ideal day and night temperatures for flower cultivation are 28 and 18 degrees celsius respectively.

However, they point out, the temperature in most parts of the country remained above this level even in the peak winter season.

Sanjay Parade, training coordinator and manager of the Horticulture Training Center (HTC), Pune, said that the gradual warming of temperature would finally tell on flower production in the country. India is a major exporter of flowers.

In the wake of the climate change, greenhouse farming is the only way to protect crops and manage a better yield than in normal condition.

Farming under controlled condition, Parade said, protects crops from wind, rain, radiation, and precipitation. HTC is imparting training to farmers in greenhouse technology for higher productivity, he said.