India’s agriculture is undergoing a gradual structural transformation, with a slow shift from cereal-dominated systems toward high-value horticulture. In this context, protected cultivation has emerged as a technology-driven pathway to promote crop diversification, enhance productivity, and stabilize farm incomes. Drawing on national trends and field-based evidence from Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, the study finds that protected cultivation—particularly polyhouse-based capsicum production—delivers substantially higher yields and returns compared to traditional paddy–wheat systems. Despite high initial investment costs, financial analysis indicates strong profitability and robust returns under supported conditions, highlighting its potential as a viable alternative for income enhancement.
However, the adoption of protected cultivation remains limited due to several structural and operational constraints. These include high upfront capital requirements, dependence on subsidies, gaps in technical knowledge, and inefficiencies such as weak market linkages and price volatility. While institutional initiatives like Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) and Centres of Excellence (CoEs) have supported technology dissemination and capacity building, challenges in scalability persist. The study concludes that realizing the full potential of protected cultivation will require coordinated policy support, improved access to credit, strengthened extension services, investment in post-harvest infrastructure, and region-specific strategies to enable a transition toward a more resilient and high-value agricultural system.
