Techno Evaluation of Developed Vertical Gardening System for Livelihood and Food Security

A vertical garden is a technique used in growing plants in upward direction by using vertical frame and other supporting systems. The present study was carried out for design and development of stand-alone solar powered semi-automatic vertical gardening system with cost effective locally available materials for different crops at the Department of Soil and Water Engineering, SVCAET&RS, Faculty of Agricultural Engineering, Raipur (Chhattisgarh). Mild steel flat was used to develop this structure. Solar power energy was used for irrigating plants with the help of drip irrigation system. This action is normally done with a DC submerged pump that is connected to lateral pipe. The results of the study indicated that on vertical frame the drip irrigation with water soluble fertilizer gave maximum yield of cauliflower i.e. 891.91 q ha^-1, followed by cabbage and minimum under broccoli of 323.28 q ha^-1. The results also revealed that the same quantity of water was applied through drip but the water use efficiency was found maximum for cauliflower (40.84 q ha^-1-mm) and minimum was recorded in broccoli (15.05 q ha^-1-mm). Similarly, the fertilizer use efficiency was observed maximum in cauliflower and minimum in broccoli. The present study is very helpful to accept solar powered stand-alone semi-automatic vertical garden system to save space, water and give healthy vegetation and environments benefits.