[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Food safety has of late been one of the major concerns of humanity worldwide. The latter part of the 1900s was marked by a hue and cry against the excessive use of chemical-based insecticides, pesticides and fertilizers, while the bygone decade witnessed concerns over Genetically Manufactured (GM) foods.

If those potatoes that seemed perfect on the outside turned out to be rotten on the inside, who would you blame – their vendor or grower? The answer depends on your angst, but it is largely the cultivator, who bears the blame. 

While various countries and global agencies as Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) prescribe international food safety norms, the quality of the end product is often compromised, often for reasons beyond the control of the farmer.

Nevertheless, how the produce turns out to be, depends a lot on the weather conditions and other factors that can now be controlled thanks to Protective cultivation techniques. 

What is Protective farming or protective cultivation?

Protective Farming is a technique that gives a farmer complete control over the way his crops are grown. It allows him to regulate the growth of his crops to ensure superior quality produce. It entails processes as conditioning the soil before or after planting the seeds as per the need, controlling the temperature, moisture and exposure to sunlight, besides weed and pest control, to ensure the best quality agricultural products.

Protected cultivation includes the use of organic and inorganic mulches, and various other healthy farming practices and apparatuses to produce superior quality agricultural products. Thanks to the innovations in the field of agricultural science, farmers now have a host of tools that they can use independently or jointly to practice Protective farming.

Tools used for Protective farming:

While experienced farmers have their own eco-friendly, time-tested cultivation tools in the form of natural mulch covers comprising compost, leaves, straw, stubble, hay, et al, the welcome advances in the field of agricultural science have made protected farming techniques even simpler and beneficial for the modern grower. 

Farmers can now bank on factory-made mulch films, fruit covers, plant and tree covers, which are healthy, eco-friendly, economically viable and easily available. Here’s an overview of the products and techniques that can help farmers practice Protective farming

Mulch Films

Mulch Films Mostly organic or bio-degradable in nature, these are custom-made, factory produced, scientific agricultural solutions that play a very important role in protected farming.

Mulch films help generate the right kind of environment that crops need to grow by protecting them from pests and weeds, regulating their moisture content, improving soil health by imparting essential nutrients to it and preventing leaching of fertilizers besides controlling the exposure of plants to the sunlight. Farmers can choose from different types of mulch films depending on their cultivation needs.

Plant covers

Plants are sensitive to heat and cold too! And more often than not, crop failures happen due to their unnecessary exposure to the elements.

Plant covers have recently emerged as another viable tool for protective farming. Not only do they cover the entire plant, but at times also several rows of the same plant to protect it from either heat or cold. Apart from this, they also help in protecting the plant from birds, beasts, weeds and pests.

Crop covers

Ever sustained a sunburn? That scar must have really hurt! Crops can suffer sunburn too, so they need to be covered to protect them from it and a lot more. Most certainly, you wouldn’t like consuming a sunburnt agricultural produce! Allow us to remind you of some fields where you might have come across long tunnels of fabric. Those are crop covers sheltering the produce that would someday end up on your plates from various hazards. 

Tree covers

Covers for an entire tree are one of the most amazing innovations of agricultural science. Their job is to protect the trees and their fruit from potential natural hazard and enhance the quality of the produce in the process. 

Shade nets

Shade nets are either made of agro-nets or any other woven material that allows passage of air. They provide cooling to the plants by regulating light, humidity, temperature and carbon-dioxide content. 

Vermi beds

These are used for producing superior quality vermi-compost for protected cultivation of plants.

Fruit covers

These protect individual units or bunches of fruit like apples, mangoes, guavas, bananas and grapes from the ill-effects of heat and cold, besides birds and squirrels and dark spots. They control and regulate the exposure of the fruit to sunlight, air and water to ensure quality yield. 

Weed mats and insect nets

Both of these are integral to protective farming these days as they help control the growth of harmful weeds and catch the insects that pose a potential threat to plants.

Grow bags

The healthier growth environment provided to a plant by the grow bags are making cultivators switch over to these. These are made of porous material that allows passage of air through it and are ideal for growing plants. They make sure that plants get just the right amount of water that they need and develop healthy roots.

Agri wires

Remember the time when cultivators used kite strings or metal wires from supporting creepers like money plant? Those definitely were not good choices, but back then they did not have better options.

In the present times, plant growers have access to agri-wires, which are plant-friendly and ideal for the growth of creepers as they are made of materials that are not harmful to plant health.

These aids can either be used independently or in coherence with one another, depending on the farmer’s choice.

Why should growers pursue protective farming?

Cultivating crops is a serious business. While most of it lands up in our bellies, some of it is used to cater to our clothing and other needs as well. Growing quality produce requires meticulous efforts on the part of the cultivator. 

How carefully a farmer grows his crops is important in the interests of public health and safety. Besides, when people shell out money, they expect their purchases to be worth it. While money does not grow on plants, but what it buys, does! Therefore, it is the bounden duty of the farmers to pursue protective farming to ensure that their customers get nothing but the best.

Regular practice of protected cultivation ensures high-quality crop yield. Protective farming has the potential to turn deserts into crop yielding havens. It is particularly beneficial for growing cash crops that could spell prosperity for farmers. 

Thanks to protective farming techniques farmers with small land holdings too can look forward to higher yield of crops. Protected cultivation techniques are a boon for non-traditional farming, which includes farming of fruits and crops other than the ones grown traditionally in India. The growing craze for mushroom and bell pepper farming in Punjab is a case in point. 

Impact of Protective farming on India’s economy:

Chiefly an agrarian economy, India is one of the largest producers of cotton, jute and jute products, while it also enjoys the distinction of being one of the top producers of sugarcane in the world. Besides this, India is one of the largest exporters in the world of Basmati rice, fresh fruits, vegetables, spices and much more. 

Protective farming has been the norm in India since the past many years. In the recent years, this practice has evolved scientifically on a larger scale that is beneficial for both the farmer and his customers. Else how could the country justify its distinction of being the largest producer and exporter of the above-mentioned agricultural products? Occasional crop failures caused by natural calamities certainly do not bely these facts. 

The arrival of an increasing number of Indian companies dealing in state-of-the-art Protective farming kits, on the agricultural scene, speaks volumes about the welcome reception accorded by the Indian farmers to these innovations. The day is not far when India will be a world leader in not just protective cultivation, but also in the manufacture of apparatuses that make it possible.

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