Located in Sikar, Rajasthan, this 10,400 sqm Naturally Ventilated Polyhouse is a soil-based cucumber growing facility with 31,200 plants, commissioned at the end of March 2025 — right as the Shekhawati summer begins its climb toward peak heat.
Sikar sits in north-eastern Rajasthan's Shekhawati region at around 435 metres above sea level, with a subtropical steppe climate. What defines the growing calendar here is the pre-monsoon summer: from late March through June the heat builds relentlessly, from an average near 30°C toward peaks approaching 50°C, under near-cloudless skies with humidity falling to around 21% and effectively no rain until July. Winters are short and sharp, with January nights near freezing, and the roughly 452 mm of annual rainfall lands almost entirely in July and August. For most of the year, the air is hot, dry, and dust-laden.
Cucumber is a demanding fit for that. It is a fast-growing vine with a shallow root system and a high, continuous water requirement, and it grows best in warm but not extreme heat with moderate-to-high humidity — close to the inverse of a Sikar summer. In the open field through the hot months, the crop runs under severe heat and water stress that shows up as bitterness, misshapen fruit, scorched foliage, and collapsing yield, while consuming irrigation water fast in a district where it is limited. The late-March start of this project means the structure had to be ready to carry a tender crop straight into the hardest part of the year.
The Structure
A 10,400 sqm Naturally Ventilated Polyhouse was installed with peak-summer performance as the priority. At this scale, ventilation design does the heavy lifting: the structure's ridge and side vents were laid out along the prevailing wind so that hot air is drawn up and out continuously across a large floor area, preventing the heat build-up that would otherwise make a structure this size unmanageable in a Sikar summer. Shade and diffused light cut the intensity of the radiation reaching the canopy, holding temperatures nearer the range cucumber can actually produce in.
The enclosed canopy also steadies humidity well above the parched outside air, which for cucumber is the key relief — it lowers transpiration demand, eases water stress directly, and trims the irrigation the crop needs across a large planting, a real saving in a water-scarce region. The same envelope shields the vines from dust and abrasive dry winds, and, at the cold end of the year, holds the crop above the frost threshold so production isn't lost to winter nights.
The crop is grown in ground soil, with the polyhouse managing the heat, humidity, and wind above it — keeping established local soil agronomy intact while giving a fast, thirsty, heat-sensitive crop a workable environment across 10,400 sqm and all 31,200 plants, through a calendar the open field can't support.
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 Sikar, 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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