agriculture review
by aditya abhishek
According to an estimate, farmers can earn up to 6 Lakhs rupees every year by cultivating gerbera in a 1/2 acre polyhouse farm. Here is how you can start...
Site should have good sunlight exposure, proper drainage, access to water, etc. Soil should be well drained & porous. You can also use cocopeat media to cultivate gerbera.
Add organic manure with soil in 2:1 & then sterilize soil. you can leave the surface exposed under sunlight for a week or treat soil with Hydrogen peroxide @35 ml per litre.
Construct polyhouse in an area that receives maximum sunlight, preferably facing the east-west direction. Polythene thickness should be 200 microns.
Prepare raised beds of 45 centimetres high & 60 centimetres wide. Distance between two beds should be 30 centimetres.
You can plant gerbera from January to March & June to August. Plant them at 1 feet distance from plant to plant & at 1.25 distance between row to row.
Adopt fertiligation from third week after plantation. On Monday, Wednesday & Friday apply 700 grams Calcium nitrate, 400 geams Potassium nitrate, 20 grams EDTA per 500 metre square.
On Tuesday, Thursday & Saturday apply 700grams Sulphate of Potash (0:0:50), 300 grams Mono Ammonium Phosphate (12:61:0), 700 grams Magnesium Sulphate per 500 metre square.
You will also need to add 1 to 5 grams of Manganese Sulphate, Zinc sulphate, Copper sulphate Molybdenum, Boron per 500 metre square to promote good growth.
Drip irrigation is best for growing gerbera. Irrigate 3.75 litre/drip/plant for 15 – 20 minutes once after every 2 to 3 days.
You can harvest once they have fully opened and are at their peak freshness. The best time to harvest gerbera flowers is early in the morning.
To increase shelf life soak stalks in 5 to ml Sodium hypochloride solution per litre of water for 4 to 5 hours. Then grade them accoring to stem length & diameter.
After harvesting you can sell gerbera to local flower markets, florists, event planners, etc.
thanks for reading!