Meaning of rooftop farming || Complete Guide

 If you are willing to grow your own food but don't have land; then don't worry you are at right place. This article will guide you to grow your food yourself. 

Rooftop Farming:-

The word "Rooftop Farming" dictates the cultivation of different green, fresh fruit and vegetables in the roof of the buildings which is generally adopted in the areas where there is no adequate land for farming. Generally people residing in the areas where there is no space for farming can utilise their roof space and leisure time to cultivate their own food. A family can grow different vegetables like spinach, tomatoes, onion, garlic, brinjal, okra, pumpkin, bitter gurd, bottle gurd, etc through out the year as per need. It can be practiced either on monofunctional buildings or multifunctional buildings. The building that is especially build for growing is called monofunctional building. In this type of building plants can be grown even inside. Similarly multifunctional buildings are those buildings that are used as residents and for farming. In this type, plants are only grown on the top.

Rooftop Farming

Need Of Rooftop Farming:-

With the increasing population and urbanization the cultivable land is getting insufficient to fulfill the daily demand of fresh fruits and vegetables. So, to fulfill the gap between demand and supply we have to adopt another means of growing i.e Rooftop Farming. Not only this; whatever you are eating from the market are full of slow poison. So, if you are health conscious; try growing your own food organically using the waste that is produced in your home.

Clean and fresh fruits and vegetables play very significant role in human health. It provides various nutrients like carbohydrate, proteins, vitamins, minerals and fibres. These all nutrients play various role in human body. Thus, we can say that fresh & clean fruits and vegetables are very important in our daily life. But with the increase of rapid population & modernization of agriculture, there has been excessive use of chemical fertilizers with the view of increasing the productivity to feed the growing population. Thus, the consequence is that it has increased the productivity at the same time it has also degraded the quality of soil as well as the agricultural products. Chemicals from chemical fertilizers entered the food chain causing various problems in human beings. These chemicals acts as slow poison. Thus, what we are eating today is not clean and fresh in sence that it contains some harmful chemicals. The best possible solution to get fruits and vegetables free from these harmful chemicals is to grow our own food own self through Rooftop Farming. 

Requirements for successful Rooftop Farming:-

1. Roof space:-   First and foremost you must have the space on the top of your home or balcony with the better facilities of water for daily irrigation. It should also have proper sunlight penetrations.
2. Grow bags, Pots:- You can easily purchase different types of grow bags or pots for growing vegetables according to area and availability
3. Growing media:- Growing media can be anything according to the availability. You can either use mixture of compost and cocopit or mixture of compost and soil but you must be careful before using it. You must ensure that the mixture you are going to use is free from chemicals and various pests.
4. Better irrigation systems:- when you are going for Rooftop Farming you must ensure that you have better arrangements for daily irrigation as it may fail or wilt if it don't get water even for a single day as it is more exposed to intense sunlight. For daily irrigation you may collect the used water for daily irrigation. You can use any irrigation methods according to size and availability but you must have a hand sprayer that can be used for irrigation and also for nutrients and pesticides application (organic).
5. Intercultural operation tools:- when you are starting Rooftop Farming you have to have some of the tools that can help you to loose the growing media, removing unwanted plants, trimming or training plants. These tools help you to manage and maintain your plants and obtain good amount of produce on daily basis.
6. Knowledge and skills:- Rooftop Farming is not a big deal. It is same as Growing plants on land but you must observe them carefully. Management is the most important for successful Rooftop Farming and obtaining good amount of produce.

Types of Rooftop Farming:-

Generally there are two different methods of Rooftop Farming. One is closed structured Rooftop Farming in which protective structure is made for covering the top which protects plants form extreme weather . This methods of farming is bit costly but helps to grow vegetables throughout the year. Second one is  open air Rooftop Farming. This one is very easy to construct and less expensive. So, for this reason this type of Rooftop Farming can be adopted by the one who don't want to expense more.

Importance of Rooftop Farming:-

1. Unused space is used for growing own food.
2. Family can get fresh and healthy vegetables throughout the year.
3. Family can decrease their expenditure and can add to their income.
4. Family can utilise the leisure time and can spend happy time together.
5. It can ensure food security by supplying fresh fruits and vegetables throughout the year.
6. It contributes to environmental sustainability and natural resources management.
7. It also helps to maintain the optimum temperature of the building.
8. It helps to decrease the amount of carbon dioxide and increase the amount of oxygen which directly benefit our health.