Face of Nation : Majuli: Every monsoon Assam is ravaged by devastating floods. While farmers in the rest of the state dread the losses it spells, cultivators on the Majuli river island wait for the annual deluge. Most farmers have now switched to hydroponics — or cultivation without soil — and more water means more ‘cropping area’.
Hydroponic technology includes growing plants in nutrient solutions that supply essential elements needed for growth. Special containers, called hydroponic trays, designed to hold plants are used. Several states have experimented with the technology, especially popular among green hobbyists and organic food proponents in urban centres, but in Majuli — the largest river island in the world — it is now a means of survival.
The Brahmaputra here, revered and feared in equal measure, swallows huge chunks of land as it meanders along. Originally 1,250 sq km in size, the river’s wrath has reduced Majuli to 480 sq km. The continuously shrinking landmass poses a challenge as at least half of its two lakh residents depend on it. The problem is compounded when nearly 80% of cultivated land goes under water every year during floods.
In 2016, the administration started thinking if the solution lay in switching to hydroponic farming. It can be cheaper than traditional agriculture since tilling and sowing are not required and it is not labour-intensive. All that was needed was to create ‘floating’ cultivation fields and convince farmers to adopt the new technology. The first part was easy. Majuli is dotted with natural and man-made water bodies with low currents. But persuading farmers wasn’t.
Farmers who were mainly cultivating rice, potato and yam were initially sceptical as most of them had never heard of grow
ing crops without soil. “It took some time for farmers to warm up to the concept,” Debaprasad Misra, deputy commissioner of Majuli.
But things changed. Today, 620-odd farmers are cultivating vegetables and herbs on 528 hydroponic trays – the equivalent of 10 acres of farmland. Farmers now have higher yields, more income and zero crop losses due to floods.
Cost-return analysis shows income from hydroponic cultivation in Majuli is 3.58 times higher than expenditure. “Each tray produces yield equivalent to that in 0.002 acre of farmland and costs Rs 2,500. Harvest from 10 trays is 25 kg. Farmers make about Rs 5,000 in one harvest cycle of vegetables. Herbs fetch more – about Rs 40,000,” said Dipayan Dey, chairperson of South Asian Forum for Environment, a Kolkatabased organisation supporting the initiative.
