Rajkot: Israeli technology is coming to the aid of farmers in arid Kutch. A Bhuj-based farmer has successfully grown the crunchy, non-spicy bell peppers or capsicum adopting Israel’s poly-greenhouse method.
Haresh Thacker is also expecting a bumper crop of the easy-to-cook hollow chilli — ‘shimla mirch’ — otherwise a cold season crop.
In major parts of the country, capsicum is grown as a winter crop as it requires low temperature while in hilly terrains it is grown during summers. But Thacker chooses a period between winter and summer so that the crop can be harvested from mid-February to summer-end.
Thacker has grown the red and yellow varieties of capsicum in one acre land in Bhuj’s Reldi village where the crop is grown in a controlled environment using a fan and pad to get the desired temperature.
“I covered the entire field with seven layers of plastic and put China-imported pads inside them. Like in air coolers, these pads work as heat absorbers. I have also installed fans to provide cooling to the 4,000 m area,” explained Thacker.
As the exhaust fans throw heat outside the poly-greenhouse, it chills in just ten minutes.
“This crop requires a natural temperature of 25 degree Celsius during day and below 20 degree Celsius during night time. Fortunately, the entire machinery works automatically. When room temperature goes beyond 30 degrees, the machinery starts cooling by its own. I manage temperature during winter as required,” he said.
The farmer is expecting cash-rich bumper crop. “Although a winter crop, it remains in demand throughout the year in hotels and restaurants that serve pizzas, Punjabi recipes, Mexican dish varieties. In fact, to get a good price, I have decided to harvest this crop from March to June which is the peak marriage season and produce from other states gets scarce and costly,” he said.
Thacker is expecting anywhere between Rs 150 to Rs 200 per kg for his 40 tonne-estimated yield by June-end. The one-time cost for adopting this technology and seedlings comes to nearly Rs 55 lakh per acre.
“Farmers income will only increase when they will grow new crop varieties. If all farmers grow tomatoes or dates, it will result in bumper crop. When they don’t get good price, it results in wastage,” he said.
“Capsicum requires huge investment. Growing colourful varieties of bell peppers is very difficult in Kutch’s environment. So, not many farmers prefer this crop,” said K P Sojitra, deputy director of horticulture Kutch.