The Department of Botany of Cuttack’s Ravenshaw University has made remarkable progress in the field of organic farming by producing healthy crops adapting soilless hydroponic farming.
The researchers have successfully cultivated vegetables like brinjal, green chili, cabbage, broccoli etc, with the help of hydroponic farming.
The above experiment is being done in the green house located in the department.
To cultivate the plants in water, the researchers are extracting all the nutrients from the soil and giving the plants through water by artificial technology.
The necessary nutrients like PH, TDS and ECS are stabilized by the researchers along with quantity of air.
The faculty members and researchers of the department are working dedicatedly to pave more favorable ways for organic farming.
The department is also focusing on circulating this method among the farmers to uplift their skills and to strengthen its students to flourish in the field of Agri-Entrepreneur (AE).
“We have observed that our medium is successfully adapting to all the conditions. Apart from flower, now we can grow vegetables and other crops through hydroponic farming. After it will be available commercially, it will help farmers to grow crops even after there will be issues in soil. People from urban areas will also benefit from this process,” said Khirod Kumar Sahoo Assistant professor of Botany Department.
Dayanadhi Sahoo, a researcher of Botany Department said, “Earlier, we had cultivated flowers now we are growing crops. The standardize nutrients are helping the crops to grow and we have been working on the nutrients for last two years, as we aim to bring out an optimum condition which helps all the plants to grow.”
Speaking about the advantages of hydroponic farming, Subhrasrita Das a researcher said, “People use various pesticides and steroids to boost their cultivation process, but we are only using organic ways to cultivate our crops.”
It is to be noted that earlier, the researchers of the department have cultivated Strawberries and saffron. Now, with their own imitative, the researchers, faculty members and students are growing the vegetables.