Potentials and prospects of protected cultivation under Hilly Conditions

Abstract

Protected cultivation is the concept of growing potential crops in the modified natural environment for ensuring optimum growth of the crop plants without any or least stress and hence offers great scope to harness this potential of growing the high value crops by achieving independence of climate and weather, and to grow these crops during off -season and in marginal environments. Globally, there is a need to increase productivity and quality of the produce to meet the demand of ever increasing quality and health conscious consumers. Hence, a breakthrough in production technology of high value crops such as, vegetables that integrates market driven safe foods/ products driven quality parameters with the production system by ensuring vertical growth in the productivity.