A low-cost greenhouse

A greenhouse (GH) need not be expensive.

For instance, such a vegetable production facility can be constructed at P40,000, as against the almost P600,000 one needs to build a commercial GH.

A low-cost greenhouse has been built and found viable by the Department of Agriculture-Region 11 (Southern Mindanao) at its Research Outreach Station (ROS) in Manambulan, Tugbok District, Davao City.

DA-Region 11 headed by Regional Director Roger Chio, through the DA-Southern Mindanao Agricultural Research Center (SMIARC) under Dr. Alfredo Cayabyab, the DA-Bureau of Agricultural Research (BAR)-Community Participatory Action Research (CPAR), and the DA High-Value Commercial Crops Program(HVCCP) have made the low-cost greenhouse technology as a model for sustainable high-value vegetable production.

Two private companies and a local government unit have already signified their intention to replicate the technology in their demonstration farms.

What makes the innovative GH affordable is that it is made of locally available materials.

The 400-square meter greenhouse has for its frame 25 pieces of big and 30 pieces of small bamboo poles, all costing P2,000.

A 500-square meter plastic sheet valued at P19,500 was used as roofing while one roll of fine nylon costing P1,580 was used as protective barriers from insects and other pests.

Additional expenses include labor (P10,000) and eight kilos of common nails (P360).

A drip irrigation was installed to provide efficient water system. A fogger was set up to regulate the temperature and humidity inside the greenhouse. Cost was P6,500.

"The modified greenhouse is designed to make vegetable cultivation affordable to our farmers," said Juanito Lupiba, ROS-Manambulan chief, as reported by DA-Region 11’s Noel T. Provido.

A bamboo-structured greenhouse could last up to five years or longer, enabling farmers to maximize production and increase their profit, Lupiba said.

To make the bamboo posts last longer, these were wrapped with plastic before they were staked into the ground.

In the initial trials, cauliflower, particularly the Tokita Silver Cup which is suitable for Manambula’s mid-elevation and commercially preferred by the local market, was planted.

A total of 2,133 hills were planted within the 400-square meter greenhouse, reported ROS-Manambulan vegetable specialist Agapito Regulacion.

Cauliflower production in a greenhouse usually takes 60 days from sowing the harvest but at the innovative GH it took only 45 days, he noted.

Total yield for the first cropping was 400 kilos, with a gross income of P16,000 and a net income of P12,383.

"Based on this computation, a farmer who invests P40,000 in low-cost greenhouse production can recover his investment right after the fourth cropping period as net income will reach P49,532. This is about only a year after the establishment of the greenhouse," Provido wrote. – Rudy A. Fernandez