A lack of government subsidy limits the growth of the technique to large companies, they say.
Karnataka, a leading agricultural state in India, is falling behind in adopting hydroponics, a soilless crop cultivation technique, said Sri. Kadiregowda, Joint Director of Horticulture, Lalbagh.
Kadiregowda said that despite its numerous advantages, including higher yields, reduced water usage, lower pest and disease risk, hydroponics growth in Karnataka is hampered by its high initial setup cost and lack of government support.
Nagaraj Hullur, a research associate at University of agricultural sciences said, “Hydroponics is a very costly affair and purely technical, so it is for the best if the Karnataka Government should provide subsidies for its growth in Karnataka.”
In 2020, the hydroponics market in India was valued at INR 1 billion experiencing a robust growth rate of 18 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR), However, India’s standing in the hydroponics market lags behind that of its Asian counterparts, such as China and Japan, according to Meticulous Research.
Yang Zhang, Regional Manager at Galuku Group earlier in an article said that with the help of seminars, research and demonstration projects, the Chinese government is promoting modern agriculture throughout the country as it helped their yields to increase from 50 percent to 150 percent.
Kadiregowda added, “Farmers are struggling to afford the high cost of establishing hydroponics systems due to the state government’s absence of schemes and subsidies. Additionally, we don’t have any subsidy because the specification of material is not standardized.”
Jayaswamy, Agriculture officer at Department of Agriculture said, “It’s not like the Government is doing nothing, we are helping people with 35 percent of the total cost of setting up a hydroponics farm, we are providing them with a polyhouse and sprinklers.”
The upfront investment required for setting up a hydroponics system in India varies between Rs 18,87,200 and Rs 20,00,000.Hydroponic farmers can yield 3200 kg in one-time crop production like a lettuce on a 5000-square-foot area.
Archita, Agriculture officer at Department of Agriculture said, “The slow growth of hydroponics in Karnataka is seen as a missed opportunity for the state to lead in innovative and sustainable farming practices. The potential benefits of hydroponics, such as efficient resource utilization and addressing water scarcity and soil challenges, could significantly contribute to the state’s agricultural landscape.”
Karnataka government should actively promote hydroponics adoption by implementing schemes that subsidize hydroponics systems, providing training and extension services to hydroponics farmers, and conducting research in this field, Archita further added.
Jayaswamy added, “We are not sure if we will increase the current amount of help in the near future however we will look into the matter.”
Mr. Srinivas, Hydroponic equipment supplier at Greentech Hydroponics said, “We are in the market for the past ten years and we have supplied hydroponics equipment to clients however they are big companies who use it for commercial use and don’t have technical knowledge, they think that using YouTube for three days will make them experts. We want to help farmers more but since the cost is too high even we can’t help them, government needs to step up.”
