Agriculture experts have advised the farmers to cultivate off-season vegetables in tunnels as the tunnel cultivation can increase their income manifolds in addition to mitigate financial constraints of the peasants.

A spokesman of the Agricultural Department told to the APP here Wednesday progressive farmers are adopting tunnel technology and earning much money by cultivating off-season vegetables in low, walk-in and high tunnels.

It is impossible for the growers to grow summer vegetables manually during the winter. However, the summer vegetables like cucumber, tomato, sweet chilies, green chilies, pumpkin, sponge gourd, bitter gourd, vegetable marrow, red gourd, Brinjal, water melon, musk melon, etc.

He said tunnel-grown vegetables were covered by green fiber sheets to protect these vegetables from severe cold and frost during the winter. With the intensive care, the farmers can get early production of the summer vegetables and earn more income than seasonal vegetables.

Well fertile loamy soils having better drainage are best for the cultivation of these vegetables. However, the growers should get proper training before adopting tunnel cultivation techniques, the spokesman recommended.