Poly Houses Would Enable Round-The-Year Cultivation Of Vegetables The state government’s drive to encourage hitech farming has found favour among more than 1,125 new generation farmers, who have come forward to sign up for precision farming. The new breed of farmers, mostly young, hopes to harness latest technologies in precision farming to make a turnaround in the sector. Setting a new trend in the state’s farm sector, which has been beset by flagging fortunes for the last many years, as many as 512 poly houses are coming up across the state. The state horticulture mission, which is implementing the project, said the response from the farming community has been overwhelming. According to horticulture mission officials, poly house and precision farming would enable round-the-year cultivation of vegetables irrespective of the vagaries of nature. “The most ardent support has come from the educated younger generation. We have given work sanction to 1,125 farmers found eligible to set up poly houses. Of them, 512 projects are under various stages of implementation” K Prathapan, mission director, state horticulture mission said. Farmers would get 75% subsidy to set up a square metre of poly house, which would cost Rs 935 and require 20 cents. “Compared to open farming, the main advantage of poly houses is that it would cut down the labour requirement by 70%. It has been found to increase the yield of vegetables by five to eight times and also enable cultivation of high yielding and hybrid varieties,” Prathapan said. Digaul Thomas, a 33-yearold Gulf-returned engineer, who took up precision farming at Mananthavady, said as many as 50 farmers, almost all of them young people, have come together to form the Innovative Farmers Club, which is setting up 20 poly houses and 30 open precision farms in the district under Nabard funding.