Ms. Namrata Bhansali will present her APS as per the details below:

Date: Wednesday, 24th  September 2025

Time: 1400 - 1500 hrs.

Venue: C-TARA Conference Room 1 

Title: Developing Bamboo Polyhouse Construction Technology for Marginal Farmers

Guide: Prof. Chaaruchandra Korde

RPC Members: Prof. Siddhartha Ghosh and Prof. Amit Arora

Abstract:

As per the Agriculture Census Report 2015-16, 86% of Indian farmers belong to small and marginal categories with landholdings of less than 2 hectares. Climate change further threatens their productivity, while the State of Rural and Agrarian India Report 2020 highlights a sharp decline in farming livelihoods—farmers decreased by 8.5 million between 2001 and 2011, while farm laborers increased by 37.5 million. The NABARD survey (2016-17) shows that average monthly farm household income was only Rs. 8,931, with 35% from cultivation.

Marginal farmers thus face challenges of small landholdings, low incomes, and climate risks. Protected cultivation offers a potential solution by enabling year-round production. Bamboo Polyhouse Construction Technology builds on this concept, using locally available bamboo to reduce cost and environmental impact compared to galvanized iron structures. However, polyhouses remain vulnerable to adverse weather, and design standards for bamboo structures are lacking.

This research focuses on developing standardized bamboo polyhouse construction technology through material investigations, structural studies, and field demonstrations. Current progress includes testing 300 bamboo samples in compression, analyzing moisture effects, determining characteristic strength and modulus of elasticity, developing a smoke treatment plant, structural modelling of two different models disseminating polyhouses, field and farmers feedback of the disseminated polyhouses at various locations of Maharashtra. This research aims to develop a technology manual for constructing Bamboo polyhouses for marginal Farmers.