Control environment for cultivation of coriander in vertical tower hydroponic structure

Abstract

At the Instructional Farm, Department of Farm Structures, Dr. PDKV, Akola, a controlled environment with a vertical tower structure was used for a field experiment. The construction measured 950 mm in height, 480 mm in inner diameter, and 550 mm in outer diameter. A randomized block design was used to set up the experiment. According to the study, the grow tower hydroponic structure's temperature, relative humidity, light intensity, and CO2 were all conducive to coriander growth during the winter. The best results were obtained with the grow tower hydroponic structure, which was followed by the open field and NFT hydroponic structures. In comparison to the open field, the green shade net's temperature was 2–5 ºC lower. In December and January, the relative humidity within the open field hydroponic structure and green shade net was found to be between 34.25 and 86.17%. Coriander biometric traits, including as plant height, leaf count, stem diameter, and internode distance, were shown to be higher in grow tower hydroponic structures than in NFT and open field hydroponic structures. Within the grow tower hydroponic construction, the maximum productivity of 16.20 q/ha was discovered. Based on iron content (226.37 ppm), chlorophyll content (9.9 mg/g), and leaf area (1.11 cm2), the grow tower hydroponic structure had the highest quality coriander, followed by NFT and open field hydroponic structures. Additionally, higher-quality coriander was produced during the winter months due to the low temperatures and controlled environment. The entire cost of the hydroponic grow tower structure is Rs. 10,440.