Low tunnel technology in cucurbits
- 1. LOW TUNNEL TECHNOLOGY IN CUCURBITS Submitted by: NEHA VERMA PhD 2nd year L-2017-A-34-D
- 2. •Growing out-of-season crops in controlled atmosphere inside polythene tunnels is called Tunnel Farming. In India, this kind of farming is normally adopted for off-season cultivation of summer vegetables •As it is not possible to grow summer vegetable in open fields from December to February due to low temperature and high frost levels, so these are grown inside polythene tunnels so that proper atmosphere may be given to plants for their maximum growth and yield •For this reason, modern and progressive farmers of India are adopting this advance mode of farming at a faster pace LOW TUNNEL FARMING
- 3. • To protect the crops from the frost and chilling by traping the heat of the sun, extending the growing season and increasing production. • Gaining acceptance among educated farmers as it save the input resources by using less than 40 per cent water, fertilizer and other resources under controlled conditions. • Through tunnel farming, it is possible to overcome the three main impediments that impact agricultural growth: chronic water shortages, low yield per acre and low value of crop production. Basic Idea of Tunnel Farming
- 4. •Among the main challenges that vegetable farmers face are cold temperatures early in the spring and late in the fall, as well as pests, water supply and wind that affects crop growth and production throughout the season. •Low tunnels technology may overcome these limitations to some degree since they improve the crop’s micro-environmental conditions, and reduce evapo-transpiration and water requirements. •In addition, row covers act as physical barriers against insect pests •Enhance plant growth and increase yield, and they may reduce the time crops need to reach commercial size or maturity. •In doing so, we can increase harvest events and consequently improve productivity as well as water, nutrient and land-use efficiency. (Arancibia RA, 2008) Need of low tunnel
- 5. • Tunnel technology operates on the principle that creating conditions during winter that are equivalent to those in summers. The vegetables sown in summer are then cultivated in these tunnels during winter • Entire farming area is covered by transparent polythene sheet fixed over D-shaped Bamboo/steel/aluminum pipes • Soil is also covered with black colored polythene sheath with small holes in which the seed/seedlings are sown • Sunlight during the day passes through transparent polythene sheath and is absorbed by the black sheath spread over the soil/growing media • This raises the temperature to desired level inside the tunnel • Plastic sheet on the soil serves three purposes: i) First it traps heat ii) it reduces water loss and iii) it eliminates growth of weeds enormously. Principle of Low Tunnel Technology
- 6. • To introduce intensive cultivation per unit area • Used for raising healthy and early nursery • To get maximum output/unit area • Get production as per market demand • Minimize the environmental hazards • Increase the life span and production ability of the plants • To get 3-5 times more production as compared to that taken in an open field • Fetch higher price of produce because of its early availability in the market • Save the input resources like water, fertilizer and time & space • Reduce the incidence of disease and pest • Protect vegetable against wind, rain, frost and chilling • Very popular in farmers being less expensive and as its installation is easy& quick Demerits • Production of vegetables less than Walk-In & High Tunnels. • Crop Management operations i.e spraying, hoeing, fertilizer application etc are difficult and are conducted by lifting plastic sheet • Low tunnel construction and dismantling must be done annually and is labor intensive • Vegetables can only be early for 20-30 days Merits of Tunnel Technology
- 7. • Always keep the direction of the tunnel from East to West for better temperature gains inside the tunnel • Any person who is planning to adopt this technology should have some practical knowledge about farming. • Use of high quality hybrid seeds • Maintaining fertility of land within the tunnel during the period of cultivation • Timely control of pests, diseases and exercise of preventive measures • Timely irrigation and fertilization • Speedy transportation to the market. • Vegetables which are in demand, should be cultivated, this will help in earning higher profit margins. • Farmer should have knowledge about the benefit that the early crop will offer and should gather data about the prices of these early crops • For cucumber, use parthenocarpic variety seed • To avoid germination of weed, use black mulch into the growing bed Guidelines for successful cultivation
- 8. • High Density Polyethylene (HDPC) / Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) pipes of one inch diameter and 2 meter in length. • Transparent Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE) films of 25-50 microns having 2 meter width. • 50 cm long with 6 mm diameter Galvanised Iron (GI) wires in which Peg to be made. • 2 number of poles having 5 cm diameter. • Twin Poly Propylene (PP) ropes. Materials Required for Construction
- 9. Seedlings are raised in the nursery greenhouse in plastic pro-trays in month of November or January. Seedlings of 28-32 days old at four leaf stage are transplanted under row covers or plastic low tunnels in the open field from December to February Seedlings are transplanted in a single row on each bed at a spacing of 1.5-1.6 × 0.50m. Flexible galvanized iron hoops are fixed manually on a distance of 1.5 m to 2.5 m. The width of two ends of hoop is kept 40-60 cm with a height of 40-60 cm above the levels of the beds for covering the plastic on the rows or beds for making low tunnel Transparent, 30 micron, plastic is generally used for making low tunnels, which reflects infra-red radiation to keep the temperature of the low tunnels higher than outside field Plastic can be vented during the growing season as the temperature increases within the tunnels during the peak day time. Generally, 3-4 cm size vents are made on eastern side of the tunnels just below the top on a distance of 2.5 to 3.0 m after transplanting LOW TUNNEL TECHNOLOGY IN CUCURBITS (Thakur N and Devi MB, 2013)
- 10. • Most of the cucurbits being monoecious needs pollination. When there is complete flowering bees can work in tunnels easily through the vents made on the plastic. • For effective pollination in crops like muskmelon, summer squash etc, one beehive per acre area is sufficient The beehive box is kept on the northwest side of the field for effective working of the bees. • Approximately 25 tunnels can be constructed on an acre of land. Low tunnel for off season cucurbits cultivation (Thakur N and Devi MB, 2013)
- 13. Cucurbitaceous vegetables nursery under poly tunnel
- 14. Installation of low tunnel by using machinery
- 15. Cucumber was grown in poly house by 58.82 per cent of the respondents while 29.41 per cent of the respondents were cultivating cucumber in net house and 33.33 per cent were growing cucumber in low tunnel technology Distribution of respondents according to crops grown under different protected structures in Punjab (Kaur et al 2017)
- 16. S N Crop Transplanting time Harvesting Time Crop advancement (days) Expected Cost benefit ratio 1 Summer Squash 1st week of Dec 1st week of Feb 60 1:3 to 1:4 2 Musk Melon 3rd week of Jan to 1st week of Feb 2nd week of April to last week of April 30-40 1:2.5 to 1:3.5 3 Bottle Gourd 3rd week of Jan to 1st week of Feb 2nd week of April to last week of April 30-40 1:2.5 to 1:3.5 4 Bitter Gourd 3rd week of Jan to 1st week of Feb 2nd week of April to last week of April 30-40 1:3 to 1:4 5 Water Melon 3rd week of Jan to 1st week of Feb 2nd week of April to last week of April 30-40 1:2 to 1:2.5 6 Cucum ber 3rd week of Jan 1st week of Feb 30 1:3 to 1:4 Transplanting, crop advancement and expected cost benefit ratio in cucurbits by adopting low tunnel technology
- 17. Growth difference in cucumbers grown under low tunnel in comparison to open field
- 18. Effect of sowing time and growing conditions on growth and yield attributing parameters of bitter gourd Kumar et al., 2017
- 19. Effect of sowing time and growing conditions on growth and yield attributing parameters of Bottle gourd Kumar et al., 2017
- 20. Economic feasibility of summer squash cultivation using low tunnel and black plastic mulch under tarai condition of Uttarakhand Lalit Bhatt*, S.K. Maurya and Dhirendra Singh The first factor include three transplanting dates i.e. • 15th November (D1), • 15th December (D2) • 15th January (D3), whereas the second factor comprises of three low cost protected cultivation techniques i.e. • Open condition (T1). • Black plastic mulch along with low tunnel (T2), • Black plastic mulch (T3) • Low tunnel (T4)
- 21. Bhatt et al., 2016 Effect of low cost protected techniques on growth and yield of summer squash Treatments Plant spread (cm) Days to 50% flowering Days to first harvest Total crop duration (Days) Total yield (q/ha) Control (T1) 62.00 36.67 58.55 91.44 106.32 Black plastic mulch with low tunnel (T2) 112.80 27.56 43.22 103.00 451.67 Black plastic mulch (T3) 88.35 31.78 43.00 101.44 412.05 Low tunnel (T4) 105.50 28.67 46.11 94.78 352.12 CD at 5% 2.23 1.26 1.21 1.85 25.60
- 22. Interaction effect of transplanting dates and low cost protected techniques on growth, flowering and yield of summer squash Bhatt et al., 2016
- 23. Treatme nts Cost of cultivation (`/ha) Net return (`/ha) Benefit : Cost Ratio Transplanting dates Transplanting dates Transplanting dates D1 (15 Nov) D2 (15 Dec) D3 (15 Jan) Me an D1 (15 Nov) D2 (15 Dec) D3 (15 Jan ) Me an D1 (15 Nov) D2 (15 Dec) D3 (15 Jan ) Me an T1: Open Condition 75,77 8 7,56 83 7,640 0 75,9 45 11,6 72 4,87 7 74,5 70 30, 373 1.15 1.06 1.97 1.39 T2: Low tunnel + Black 1,84, 577 1,85, 833 1,84,8 61 1,85 ,090 2,31, 083 2,23, 423 2,80, 479 2,4 4,9 95 2.25 2.66 1.79 2.23 T3 : Low tunnel 1,45,4 99 1,45, 961 1,46,1 10 1,45 ,857 1,74, 551 2,06, 359 2,47, 890 2,0 9,6 00 2.19 2.59 2.82 2.53 Mean 1,29,0 19 1,29, 675 1,29,8 73 1,53, 209 1,79, 697 2,46, 542 2.09 2.46 2.75 Effect of transplanting dates and low cost protected techniques on economics of summer squash
- 24. • Low tunnels, with location specific modifications, are highly suitable for growing cucurbits in the peri-urban areas of the northern plains as well as other areas of the hilly states like Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand and North Eastern states. • Cost-effective investment option for those seeking an entry point to poly-tunnel production • Low tunnels offer an alternative form of crop protection and season extension • Cost effective and location specific design of the protected structure needs to be developed • Use of biodegradable plastics or polymers should be encouraged to combat environment pollution • Refinement in existing technology will definitely go a long way to harness the full potential of low cost poly-tunnels in cucurbits production Conclusions
- 25. THANK YOU
Editor's Notes
- #4: The idea of tunnel farming is
- #7: Because you can’t stand-up in low tunnels, you must partially remove the covering to access your crops which can make it difficult to harvest or weed in high wind, rain, snow, or sub-zero temperatures. Low tunnel construction and dismantling must be done annually and is labor intensive.
- #8: Selection of the seed is most important factor because this determines the productivity of the crop.
- #10: , when the night temperature is very low in northern parts of the country. Before transplanting of the seedlings on beds,
- #11: The main pollinating agent is honeybees (Apis melifera).
- #17: These plastic low tunnels are highly suitable for growing offseason summer squash from December to mid March, when the open field temperature in northern plains of India is not favourable for growing this crop. The off-season summer squash grown under low tunnels fetches very high prices in the market. This technology is therefore highly suitable and profitable (Table 1) for northern plains (Singh et al., 2003; Singh et al., 2004).
- #18: Spring 2016. Eastern Shore AREC, Painter, Virginia
- #20: Among three transplanting dates, summer squash transplanted on 15th January was found to be best with respect to plant growth characters, total yield (373.50 q ha-1), net return (`2,46,542 ha-1) and benefit – cost ratio (2.72). Similarly, out of three low cost protected techniques evaluated along with control, low tunnel with black plastic mulch was observed as best with respect to plant growth characters, total yield (451.67 q ha-1). Whereas, the maximum net return (`2,87,628 ha-1) and benefit - cost ratio (3.58) was obtained in black plastic mulched plots. Out of 12 treatment combinations, summer squash planted on 15th January under black polyethylene mulch is most profitable in terms of getting maximum benefit - cost ratio of 4.41. Hence, the same is recommended for commercial cultivation of summer squash at farmer’s field under tarai condition of Uttarakhand.
- #22: due to higher photosynthesis and other meta-bolic activity under favorable microclimate in terms of temperature around plant, soil and optimum soil mois-ture promoted better growth and early flowering more CO2 available for photosynthesis due to chimney effect as plastic mulches are impervi-ous to carbon dioxide resulting in abundant CO2 for plants which have resulted in higher plant growth and development.
- #25: IT CAN ALSO PROVIDE