India: Namdhari to install retractable roof greenhouse

To continue their position as a leader and innovator, Namdhari have agreed to construct a 1 hectare retractable flat roof house. The agreement was made at a meeting with the Cravo team and Mr. Uday Singh, Chairman & Managing Director and his team during a visit to the Namdhari facilities after attending the Cravo seminar in Bangalore. The house design is modeled after a similar project that was constructed in Culiacan, Mexico with one of the leading growers there. Cravo is very pleased to be able to work with such a professional company for our first installation in India! 

Cravo is pleased to announce that Rajender Kumar has joined the Cravo sales team to help bring Cravo's retractable roof growing technology to India.

Rajender has a stellar background due to the combination of his education in agriculture and economics combined with his practical experience with growing and greenhouse construction.

In February, Rajender and Yosun Cengiz, Middle East Sales Rep., organized seminars in Bangalore, Pune and Jalna where Cravo's President, Richard Vollebregt, provided in-depth information to leading agribusiness, technocrats and officials on the evolution and current developments worldwide on crop growth using the automatic retractable roof greenhouses and field covers.

Of particular interest to those in attendance was the fact that the retractable roof technology can help growers produce food year round closer to the major population centers helping to avoid the losses and cost from transporting food long distances over India's crowded roads.

When the attendees learned about the Demonstration and Education Greenhouse that Cravo constructed in Culiacan Mexico and that the climatic conditions there are very similar to those in India many expressed an interest in visiting this one of a kind facility. As a result of this interest, tours are being organized to visit the demonstration and education facility in April.

One of the most interesting discussions during the seminars was the discussion of what is "appropriate technology for growers in India". The biggest challenge to growers is the excessive heat and summer rains. The other problem is that many growers in India can only afford to buy 2,000 to 4,000m2 of basic greenhouse which does not provide sufficient cooling, resulting in short harvest cycles... causing small operations to be unprofitable.

Unfortunately retractable roof greenhouse technology is typically only cost effective for vegetable, berry and flower growers when the greenhouse is 1 hectare or greater...putting it out of reach of many small farmers.

So just like farmers have to choose what type of vehicle is most appropriate to transport their goods to the market, they need to choose what type of crop protection system is most appropriate given their size and financial ability to invest.

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