Status of Protected Cultivation of Vegetables in Punjab

Protected cultivation practice is a cropping technique wherein the microclimate surrounding the plant body is controlled partially or fully as per the requirement of vegetables. The study regarding status of protected cultivation technology was conducted by selecting various farmers who were adopting this technique in district Amritsar and Tarn Taran and the data were collected by personal field visit and interview schedule with farmers. In Amritsar district of Punjab, total area under protected cultivation was 158.70 ha with a production of 806.88 Mt of vegetables and 2 lakh seedlings of vegetables while in Tarn Taran district of Punjab the area was 23.4 ha with production of 476 Mt of vegetables. The low cost technology of vegetable cultivation was helpful for cultivation of vegetables like Brinjal, Tomato, Pumpkin, Cucumber, Capsicum, Summer Squash, Chilli, Squash Melon, Summer Squash + Cucumber and Capsicum + Cucumber in both of districts. By growing these crops in poly houses, shade nets and under low tunnels farmers were getting early yield of 9 to 46.6 q/ha, total yield of 115 to 650 q/ha and net income of Rs38,000/- to Rs.1,12,000/-ha by advancing the crop to about 30-40 days. Crops like Capsicum + Cucumber, Summer Squash + Cucumber and Capsicum were more responsive under protected cultivation of vegetables.