Indigenous and European Leafy vegetables cultivation under Modern farming- Hydroponics (Soil less)

Abstract

Globally, rapid growth rate of population, day by day increasing greenhouse effects vis-a- vis increasing carbon foot print and urbanization these are challenges in front of us. So, there is urgent need to increase food production. The aim of present study was to standardiz the indigenous and exotic leafy vegetable crops under hydroponics, Nutrient film technology (NFT). Presently, increasing levels of insecticides and pesticides in commercial vegetables cultivation are challenging in conventional agriculture which are not only harmful for environment but also for human health. At present, rapid increase in growth rate of urban population and more demand of organically fresh produce have been attracting the global attention towards the use of intensive agriculture systems and that bring us towards a new direction for modern farming technique such as soilless culture and hydroponics. Hydroponics is a modern farming technique for crop cultivation without soil with the help of nutrient solution. Among vegetable crop, leafy vegetables play a vital role for human health. In various leafy vegetable categorys Indian leafy vegetable i.e. Spinach leaf (palak), leafy mustard, coriander, Amaranthus, Basella etc. are commercially cultivated. Nowadays, in our country unexploited European vegetables crops i.e., baby leaf vegetables (i.e., rocket, crisp head lettuce, endive, parsley, water cress) are also cultivated due to their increased consumption and people are aware about their nutritive value. These vegetables are mostly considered for salad. Present study revealed that higher production with better quality was found under hydroponics farming as compared to traditional farming. The result shows that green leafy vegetables grown under hydroponics had 2.0 to 3.0 times higher productivity than the crop grown in soil. Our study revealed that various vegetables can be cultivated in a hydroponics unit. This modern farming is beneficial for fresh produce and supply of evergreen vegetables to our armed forces at front line border areas as well as area where water scarcity and land shortage are main challenges. DIBER (DRDO) has been instrumental in standardizing the technique of hydroponics for various crop from snow bound hilly regions to Antarctica.