Protected cultivation using a polyhouse/ shadenet is gaining popularity day-by-day. We have seen views from people from both sides, we have detailed information on vegies e.g. Capsicum (Specially absolutely great and invaluable info from Vivek-Viks) and we also had good info on Gerbera etc.
Requesting your opinion, views and experience on whether polyhouse is more beneficial for Flowers OR for Vegetables cultivation ?
We can compare the two options based on certain parameters eg Economy of production, climatic areas/ regions, Vicinity to specific markets, Export potential etc
(Gurus can add more parameters)
For example Most flowers such as Rose, Carnation I hear require cool, humid atmosphere. I dont know what are the suitable conditions for veggies such as Capsicum, Tomato etc.
Another thought I heard is that Shadenet could be a more economical option for growing veggies and Polyhouse is more fitted to flowers cultivation.
Expert views can help many budding farm enthusiasts a big way !
Thanks in advance !!!
i would recommend, search your market first.
be it veggies or flower, both gives high returns when cultivated properly. i personally have a good history with vegetable growing though i am still experimenting with flowers, will only comment once the results are out.
I understand that you have tried capsicum & tomato, have you tried Cucumber or other veggies ? which one did you find best ?
Where does one target, Is it always local markets initially OR one can target remote markets as well ?
Out of curiosity, Which flowers are you trying with now - Rose, Gerbera or something else ?
I have cultivated cucumber, Color capsicum and tomato in the past !! In flowers I have grown Gerbera and this year I am going to try my hands on Dutch rose.
I have always targeted peak season market, I.e my production comes when the prices are high for the particular by managing its transplantation timing and Fertilizer schedule, it all depends on your market survey. Start with your local market I said because it will be the easiest for you to search and get to know their working.
Thanks for sharing your experience with us Aman, Looks like you have been into polyhouse cultivation for a long time.
I understand it may that my local conditions may be entirely different, Still asking out of curiosity - Out of the ones you already tried, which one did you find the most lucrative ?
All the crops which I have done at least once, I find them lucrative because cmmon it’s not rocket science, once you complete a whole cycle of the crop you get to know its pattern and cultivation practices. Everything seems too easy then. Just chose a crop and start with it. All the crops have almost same difficulty level in the starting
Hi Samrat,
its confusing in the start isint it ? which crop to select, which structure pattern to choose etc…
Aman has shared his part. i too have done Floriculture farming for 2 yrs. (2010-2011) (my first ever polyhouse project). grew Carnations in 4 colors.
total area under cultivation was 2000 sq mtr, and had about 37000 plants.
its a very pretty flower and crop. the only thing that went wrong is i didnt take much of interest that time. but based on the schedule provided by the company and with local help, i had that crop for 2 yrs. the production figures i do not have. but on an on, i had returns of about 14%
marketing wasnt an issue, as Mumbai flower market is hardly an overnight journey from my city.
and yes, you are true when you said flowers need comparatively lower temperature than vegetables. (again depends on type/variety etc) but carnations really do need a cooler temperature than capsicum. i see a lot of rose and gerberas grown in my neighbourhood. so i guess its not a problem for them. but lot of carnation growers from 2010 have shifted to either rose or capsicum due to the rise in temperature.
comparing carnation and capsicum, carnation have additional cost in the start (grid support system, for supporting the stem) where as capsicum has a totally different support system.
beautiful returns can come from any crop, if the demand-supply is hit right.
today if i had the money and proper climate conditions, i would love to grow carnations.
Samrat, production is fairly easy against marketing. so the first thing is to have the marketing ready.
most things will be a pain in the beginning, but once u have them set, it wont be a sweat.
its not all that difficult, one just needs to be very particular about his/her way of working.
Thanks Viks for your encouraging comments and helpful advice … In fact I was waiting to hear from you and feel honored having heard from PH farming guru like you, indeed !
Yes, as you said its a great confusion at the moment to decide on a crop to start with. Specially since flowers are long term crop, I am trying to understand whether sustained market demand can be ensured for flowers such as Rose, Gerbera. I am feeling more comfortable with veggies, as they are short term crops and give me an opportunity to evaluate and decide again in 7-9 months time-frame. Trying to understand market dynamics, as you said production is fairly easy but not the marketing. On this front, I don’t want to depend on the local market and want to understand nearby markets as well as export possibilities (li’l later though).
Do you know of any online resource where we can get realistic market prices to understand price trend for flower? Just like Agmarket.nic.in, that gives Mandi prices of major agri commodities, I am wondering if we can find similar resource for flowers/exotic veggies.
Hi Samrat,
i too came across the online price data from here only. if you would, you will find a post where Shri and another member had posted the link to check the daily prices for vegetables and few other agriculture produce. if you cant find it, i will post the link here.
and you are very right when you compare the life of a vegetable and flower. flowers have a bit more investment as the sapling is expensive, plus the life is more. so you are kinda of stuck. whereas vegetables have less initial investment and less crop life, so you can re-evaluate and take timely decisions.
Samrat, have you thought about some alternatives? say shadenet farming ?