Located in Gangapur City, Rajasthan, this 8,000 sqm Naturally Ventilated Polyhouse is a soil-based cucumber growing facility with 24,000 plants, built to run a thirsty, fast-cycle crop in a dry, high-evaporation semi-arid zone.
Gangapur City lies in Sawai Madhopur district in eastern Rajasthan, at around 340 metres above sea level, with a hot semi-arid steppe climate set in the rain shadow of the Aravallis. Annual rainfall is around 660 to 700 mm, with more than 80% of it falling in the southwest monsoon between July and September and peaking in August, leaving the rest of the year long and dry. Summers are severe, with pre-monsoon temperatures reaching into the mid-40s°C, while winter nights can fall close to freezing. Outside the monsoon the air is extremely dry — relative humidity drops into the 10–30% range through the hot months — and evaporation runs well ahead of rainfall for most of the year.
For cucumber, that dryness is the defining challenge. Cucumber is a fast-growing vine crop with a shallow root system and a high, near-continuous water demand, and it does best in moderate-to-high humidity. In Gangapur's parched pre-monsoon air, an open-field crop transpires heavily just to keep up, running under constant water stress that shows up as bitterness, misshapen fruit, and poor yield — and every litre spent on it evaporates fast in a region where water is not abundant. The crop is also frost-tender, so the cold Rajasthan winter closes off what would otherwise be a comfortable growing window.
The Structure
An 8,000 sqm Naturally Ventilated Polyhouse was installed to make the environment work for the crop rather than against it. The enclosed canopy holds humidity higher and steadier than the desiccating outside air, which is the key move for cucumber here: it lowers the plant's transpiration demand, eases water stress directly, and in doing so cuts the volume of irrigation the crop needs to stay productive — a real efficiency gain in a water-scarce district. Ventilation aligned to the prevailing wind sheds heat through the summer peak and keeps air circulating so humidity stays supportive rather than stagnant.
The same envelope buffers the crop against the region's temperature extremes at both ends of the year — taking the edge off the summer heat and holding the crop above the cold-night threshold in winter — which lets cucumber run in successive short cycles across far more of the calendar than the open field allows. It also shields the vines from the dry, dust-laden winds that abrade and stress exposed plants.
The crop is grown in ground soil, with the polyhouse managing the air and water environment above it — keeping established local soil agronomy intact while removing the desiccation and temperature swings a short-cycle crop like cucumber has no way to absorb on its own.
About Agriplast
Agriplast Protected Cultivation Pvt. Ltd. (APPC) is the largest manufacturer and supplier of polyhouses, net houses, and other greenhouse structures. Agriplast designed, supplied, and installed this Naturally Ventilated Polyhouse in Gangapur City, Rajasthan. Beyond the structure itself, the company provides end-to-end turnkey delivery alongside agronomy support, crop advisory, and government-subsidy guidance, helping growers move to protected cultivation and grow higher-value crops with more efficient use of land, water, and inputs.
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