Green House or Organic Farming Viability in 30 cents of land

Farm Questions
1

Dear Farmnest members,

I am Hari and I work in IT. But I am very interested in Greenhouse/Organic or related farming. I have 30 cents of land near Anandhapuram Vizag. I would like to know if this small amount of land is good enough for any of the items I mentioned above. If at all if you say its enough to start (thanks in Advance), on an average for how much investment is needed and how much return I can expect. (if the business is average). Want to get a rough idea atleast about how much can I expect per year. Please shed some light. Really appreciate your responses.

2

Dear Sri Hari,

Welcome to our Forum and all the best to you.

I give my suggestion, not to go for green house farming, as you are an employee and an abscent farmer. In green house farming, more investments incurs and also, plantings will be in high density and cost of the plants will be more. Since the farming is in close circuit, possibility of diseases and Insects will be more, if broke. The Greenhouse farming to be better with close supervision of the owner or a responsible manager.

I appreciate your interest and here I am informing the expendituresinvolved in construction of Greenhouse in one acre(4,000 sq mtrs ), (for Naturally Ventilated Greenhouse). Approximately Rs 26,00,000/- to rs 30,00,000/- is required for construction of Greenhouse in one acre and rs 1,00,000/- minimum to any amount , basing on the crop and plants cost. In your land of 30 cents, (1,200 sq mtrs area), hardly you can go for 15 cents covering area, ie; around 560 sq mtrs.

Think twice before investing on greenhouse and take opinions from few farmers also.

If you are having interest of Organic farming, better go for open cropping of Fruit plants and/or Vegetables farming, on pendal system, for which your presence , once or twice in a week is sufficient. On pendals, I suggest you to go for Dondakaya ( Thondekai ,in kannada ), for which crop, your visit of once in a week is sufficient and the crop will remain for around 4 years, once you plant.

cost of pendal in 30 cents will cost you around rs 50,000/- for pendal and rs 20,000/- for fertilisers, drip and planting material( approximately ) , provided you have a water source. More over your area is super for Dondakaya farming and very demand for Organic produce,from not only from hoteliers, also from families.

you can grow any fruit plants in Organic way of farming, even with your weekends attendance.

with best wishes, g.p.rao, farmer

3

I’d tend to agree with that conclusion.
The major factor is time.
If you can spend a few hours 3-4 times a week then greenhouses are a good idea - but you’ll have to watch progress and be aware that any pest born disasters could cause immense damage in a very short space of time.

4

Thank you G.P.Rao for your valuable response. Actually its my bad that I did not mention that I want to quit IT and do this full time. And so, I would like to know what would be the returns on an average, considering I dont have any experience in farming. I want to get a ball park idea, that if I spend say 20-30 lakhs as an investment, how much I can expect per year. Thank you.

5

Dear Sri Hari sir,

with 30 cents of land, even with a greenhouse of 560 sq mtrs area, you can make a maximum income of rs 2,00,000/- to rs 3,00,000/- , by selling any flowers or vegetables ,grown in it, only if every thing goes in a right direction, and also on making high Investments.

Sir, I am informing you with my 35 years of Farming experience. My sincere advise is to go for farming at least in 3 to 5 acres, if you want to depend on its income only, as a full timer. No doubt, Agriculture/Horticulture is profitable, subject to certain practical facts and difficulties. Hence, take a decision of quitting your job, after consulting your family and well wishers, in depth.

If you arrange for some more land and took a decision of quitting the job, then ask our Forum to give suggestions on profitable farming. Collect the opinions and take an individual decision, which suits you.

Sir, Wish you all the best, g.p.rao, farmer

6

Hellow Mr Hari,

You seem to be very interested in agriculture. Many software engineers are doing agriculture in different ways i.e., open field , poly house, shade net, organic etc., To my knowledge most of the persons like you are doing successfully compare to other farmers. you may start with shade net cultivation rather than poly house. one year you do trails as you wish. Recently i have started shade net cultivation with 65 cents of land. Doing well.

7
8

Thank you very much again Mr.GP.Rao and Shanthiagrotech. If I only may 2-3 lakhs per year then thats something really need to think about. I can acquire land, but problem is its very expensive witin 40 kM from the city. After that the best bet would be 20 to 30 lakhs per acre. So, even if I buy it, its to far to take care of it on a daily basis. So, I am thinking about this 30 cents, which is 15km from where I would live. Investment is not a problem, I mean if I can can get 6-8 lakhs on an average, I dont mind spending 40 to 50 lakhs or even more if needed.

9

Dear Hari,

Since you don’t won a reasonable size of land for cultivation, this is what I would do If I were you. Instead of spending my money into buying land, I would lease a good chunk of land with good soil condition, water/power facility and reasonable transport access (for you to commute and to the market). It is a smart idea to invest my capital in actual forming rather then spending on the asset itself. Try to get a reasonable deal with the lease terms (length of the lease, price etc). My best on the lease would be atleast 50 kms away from the city. But let me emphasize you on something before you get into any further. Try to cultivate in your 30 cents as part of your initial trial before you go for big. Hope this helps.

Best Regards.