Odisha Man’s Rooftop Farming Redefining Urban Agriculture

Bhubaneswar : Steering clear of the conventional agriculture, a forward-thinking farmer in Baripada town is now scripting his success story in growing vegetables on what has traditionally been considered unusable space – city rooftops.

Like necessity breeds innovation, Karunakar Das, a resident of Ward Number-6 under Udala Notified Area Council (NAC) in Mayurbhanj has now become the talk of the town with his rooftop farming to limit his outing to the market in view of the prevailing pandemic.

In his case, more than farming, the urge to stay indoors, saving money and eating healthy has made him use the sparse area over his roof to cultivate a myriad of vegetables. To be more precise, he has quite handsomely grown 12 different types of vegetables that include eggplant, corn, okra, pointed gourd, cucumber, ridge gourd, radish, spinach, etc.

On his new form of farming, Karunakar says, “The restrictions of COVID-19 forced me to stay indoors and made me ponder upon some ideas on how to make a self-sustained living in these troubling times. Vegetables were getting dearer with each passing day, so I thought of using my rooftop to grow as many vegetables as possible.”

After doing some research, I came to know that space was just enough to grow vegetables that can feed both me and my wife. I have used only organic manure in place of chemical fertilizers, so the produce is healthier than the market,” said Karunakar.

His efforts have inspired the local ladies a big time. As per his own admission, several women in his neighborhood have learned the art of rooftop farming from him and tried their hands on it too, thereby creating financial independence for themselves.

Laxmipriya Das, wife of Karunakar was more than happy with their success. “Coronavirus pandemic was the reason we decided on doing this on our own. Apart from that, the pleasure that we are getting from tending to the plants has added to the joy and also inspired other women too.”

Experts say that the rooftop gardens help reduce carbon footprints in the area by cooling off the air around the roof and building a sustainable ecosystem.