Using plastic low tunnels and mulch to raise an early off-season okra and cucurbit crop in North India.
How to extend the okra and cucurbit season with low tunnel and mulch for early summer crop?
JJaspreet Singh8mo ago · 272 views
6 Answers
🌾Farmer.in Krishi TeamExpert ✓7mo ago
Low tunnels are small plastic covered hoops over the bed that trap warmth and let you sow okra, cucumber and other cucurbits a few weeks earlier than open field, so you harvest in the early off-season when prices are high. Combine the tunnel with plastic mulch on drip beds to warm the soil, save water and suppress weeds, and protect the young plants from cold winds. Open or remove the tunnel for ventilation on warm days and once the weather is mild and plants are flowering, so heat and pollinators are not blocked. This package needs careful timing and venting. Confirm the sowing dates, film type and any subsidy on tunnels and mulch with your KVK or horticulture department.
GGurmail Singh7mo ago
In Patiala low tunnels let me sow okra and cucurbits a few weeks early and I caught the high early prices. Plastic mulch on the drip bed warmed the soil and saved water too.
HHarbhajan Singh7mo ago
A caution: vent the tunnel on warm days and open it once plants flower, or the trapped heat and lack of pollinators hurt the set. Timing the sowing right for our cold is the tricky part.
BBalwinder Singh7mo ago
A point on these tunnels: it needs careful timing for our cold and patient venting, it is not set and forget. Done right though, the early okra and cucurbit crop caught me a strong off-season price.
KKuldeep Singh7mo ago
I make sure to open the tunnel once the plants flower so the bees can get in. The first year I kept it closed too long and the set was poor, the trapped heat and no pollinators hurt the early fruit.
SSukhwinder Singh6mo ago
I asked at the horticulture department about the subsidy on tunnels and mulch before buying, and it brought my cost down a fair bit. Worth checking what is available in your district before you spend.