Young students have taken up in-depth research into precise, scientific systems for people who farm their roofs out of hobby or need. At first sight it looks like a pleasant rooftop garden of flowers, fruit and vegetables, but fish, snails and even duckweed are being farmed here, and ornamental fish are being bred in aquariums.

The organiser says the idea for this timely research came from a television rooftop farming programme. Dr Sheikh Al Ahsan Nahid, assistant professor at Chattogram Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, said they were inspired by Channel i's rooftop farming programme to use the roof for integrated rooftop farming research, so that anyone in Bangladesh who wants to work on rooftop farming can benefit.

Natural farming, traditional farming, organic farming and today's modern, technology-based vertical farming are all present here. Various studies are under way, including detailed research on reducing the production cost of crops suited to rooftops.

Those involved hope students trained here will contribute to spreading rooftop farming technology across the country. The integrated research farm analyses all the needs and demands of rooftop farming, and it could become a model for anyone who wants to set up a similar integrated system.

Source: Shykh Seraj, Chhad Krishi. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.