The Ladakh Regional Centre of Almora's Govind Ballabh Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment in Leh has been granted a national patent for its hydroponic farming system using treated wastewater obtained from faecal sludge treatment plants.
The technique is an alternative to freshwater, offering a sustainable and scalable pathway to strengthen food security and ensure responsible use of water resources in fragile mountain ecosystems like that of Ladakh with extremely low rainfall, sub-zero winter temperatures and limited cultivable land. It has been developed by Dr Lalit Giri, Mohammad Hussain, Jigmet Chushkit Angmo, Dr Sandipan Mukherjee, Dr Indra Dutt Bhatt and Dr Sunil Nautiyal.
"By integrating wastewater reuse with hydroponic technology, the institute has set a new benchmark in climate-smart agriculture, opening new avenues for research, commercialisation and large-scale regional implementation," said Dr ID Bhatt, the institute's director.
The researchers said the system reuses treated wastewater from a faecal sludge treatment plant in Bombgarh, Leh. There, the water undergoes primary, secondary and tertiary treatment, including filtration and UV disinfection, before being transported to storage tanks inside a polycarbonate greenhouse. Crop cultivation is done through a drip-based hydroponic system using cocopeat grow bags, micro-tube feeder lines and an aerated water supply system.
Read more at Times of India
