Utilising every little space available to build a house, city dwellers most often encounter the problem of setting apart space for farming, even on a small scale. On pieces of land worth lakhs of rupees, where leaving space for a backyard or garden is almost unimaginable, in an innovative way, vertical farming is taking its baby steps, such that even in a 10 square feet space, a rich herbaceous garden with many varieties of plants can flourish.
A city-based agriculture firm has come up with a solution for vertical farming, promising to grow quintessential varieties of vegetable-bearing plants which have almost disappeared from our backyards as a result of space constraints. In the hydroponic trellis, a rectangular open framework made up of PVC pipes, even soil is not necessary for plants to grow, as their roots will be immersed in a mineral nutrient solution such as mineral wool, expanded clay pebbles, coconut husk or perlite. Ornamental plants, medicinal plants and vegetables can be grown in this manner.
“Plants that do not need much care can be planted in the frameworks. The frame can either be done in wood /metal or fibre,” says Gireesh Chandrababu, of Green Chip Agriculture Systems (P) Limited.