Soon, you can raise your own vegetable garden on the terrace. As part of the Urban Horticulture Development Scheme, the State government is planning to introduce ‘Rooftop Garden – Do It Yourself Kit’ in Chennai and Coimbatore.

Dr. R. Aravindan, deputy director, The Tamil Nadu Horticulture Management Institute, Madhavaram, said, “One house will be allotted a minimum of one unit (1 kit) and a maximum of five units. One unit will cost Rs.3,300 approximately. A 16-square metre moisture polythene sheet will be provided per unit to protect the roof floor from the rainwater.

Apart from that, ultra-violet stabilised poly bags with coco peat compressed bricks and vegetables – brinjal, tomato, chilly, bush beans, cluster beans and different types of greens – will be provided. With two litres of water, the bags will expand five times higher. After seven to ten days, bio-fertilisers and bio-pesticides with compost (one kilogram) should be mixed and used,” he added.

Garden tools – one litre hand sprayer, rose can, scoop, hand fork and two pro tray (50 holes) – and a hand book will be given to the beneficiaries.

The scheme is likely to be implemented in the middle of this month.

For details, contact A. Mohammed Nazeer, horticulture officer (Anna Nagar) at 9841155808, C. H. Rajeevan at 9840255347 and P. Punniyakodi at 9444989715.

For Perambur, contact N. Annamalai at 9444926440, K. Babu at 9444227095. For Thiruvanmiyur, contact M. R. Rajasekar at 9486725197 and S.V. Shanmugam at 9940658899.

Hi-tech sensor poly green house

The institute is setting up a hi-tech sensor poly green house on 28 acres, including five acres of State horticulture farm, 20 acres of ornamental garden and a horticulture management centre.

The green house will have imported saplings of capsicum (yellow, green, red and orange), lettuce, European cucumber, orchids, Dutch roses and anthura.

The house would be maintained with a temperature of 24-28 degrees Celsius throughout the year. It would be fully-automatic with irrigation, climate control devisers, foggers, shade nets, fan patch system ventilator and natural ventilator green house fan. The scheme is a frontline demonstration of National Horticulture Mission and National Agriculture Development Programme.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> DownTown / by T. S. Atul Swaminathan / Chennai – December 07th, 2013