Ganga has a valuable experience from different internships and jobs that has helped him to enforce his academic knowledge in the real world environment. Here is the list of internship and jobs Ganga did in the past, individual work is explained in detail in the following section.
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Texas US Farms- Aquaponic Operation
Base Camp Farms- Cut Flower Production Farm
Altman Plants - Wholesale Nursery of Specialty Plants
Potato Breeding Program, Texas A&M University
Vegetable Breeding Program, Texas A&M University
Hydroponic Crops Production, Village Fresh Farms
Pictures of Some of My Favorite Flowers
Pictures from an Internship at Texas US Farms- Aquaponic Operation
Description of Internship at Texas US Farms- Aquaponic Operation
In August 2020, I started doing an internship at Texas US Farms. I knew very little about aquaponics before the internship, but I was very much interested to learn about it. The system that Texas US Farms has set up is a small scale Aquaponics. The interesting thing about aquaponics is that we can grow vegetables and fruits without the use of fertilizers, chemical insecticides, and soil. Yes, nutrition for the plants is provided by waste from fishes, Ammonia. Since ammonia containing waste of fish is toxic for both plants and fishes, it needs to be converted into non-toxic form, nitrate, and it is done by using Nitrifying bacteria, Nitrosomonas, and Nitrobacter. Water in the system is monitored daily using testing kits that measure the concentration of nutrients, temperature, and dissolved oxygen. I found it pretty interesting because it is simple to build on a small scale, easy to plant, easy to harvest, but it demands some knowledge of plant nutrition management. It is a great technology for the places where there is not enough water, not a good quality of soil, unfavorable weather, and in the place where there is not much land available for conventional farming.
About the Project
About the Project
Below is the picture of the project that I build myself during the last week of my internship. This system was build using locally available inexpensive materials. The total cost for this project would be around $400. This system has 13 NFT pipes, two top-off containers, a gutter, drain pipe, gravel, two metallic stands to support the container, one water pump, barrel, and one air pump. The lower tank has fished it. It also has a water pump that pumps water into a biological filter, a barrel, which then send water onto the upper tank. Water from the upper tank is then distributed into one end of NFT pipes which then drains water into the main tank. In this way, water is circulated in the system. Seedlings are planted into the holes on NFT pipes by dipping the root into plant growing sponge.
Here is What I Learned From this Project
Here is What I Learned From this Project
Building and running aquaponics on a small scale is not as expensive as it is explained in many books and reading materials. To successfully run an aquaponic system, it is necessary to have good knowledge of chemical testing and maintaining the system. What I have observed is that there is a huge production of vegetables through aquaponics, but the farmers are just composting a considerable percentage of crops because of lack of proper marketing. So in conclusion, Aquaponic can be a good source of income for low-income families if they could sell their product.
Emasculation and pollination in potato breeding greenhouse at Texas A&M University
Emasculation and pollination in potato breeding greenhouse at Texas A&M University
Pictures from Nursery Management Lab
Here is what I learned from Nursery Management Class:
Growing annual plants vs perennial plants
Major pests and scouting for Insects and diseases
Importance and ways to prune crops
Different ways to acquire ownership of plant and methods
Irrigation, fertigation, fertilizer use, and pesticides application
Use of robotics and drones in nursery industry
Pictures from Texas A&M's Potato Breeding Program
Here is What I Learned from Potato Breeding Program:
Media preparation for Tissue Culture
Micropropagation of plant materials
Emasculation and pollination of crops
Training potato vines
DNA amplification
Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA)
Soil mixing, planting, watering, and harvesting potatoes.
Pictures from an Internship at Base Camp Farm-Cut Flowers Operation
Here is What I learned from Base Camp Farms:
Fitting irrigation pipes in the field and greenhouse
Identifying time to harvest
Spacing for different crops
Weed management and pest management
Harvesting different crops and use of plant nutrient
Importance of clean bucket, clean clippers, and clean working environment
Storage of crops in cold storage
Pesticides application
Pictures from an Internship at Altman Plants-Wholesale Nursery in Giddings, Texas
Here is What I Learned from Altman Plants:
Frequency of water uses on different plant materials (rooted and unrooted) at their different stages of growth and at different weather condition.
Water quality testing (pH, Chlorine, and EC)
Pesticides application
Plant Growth Regulators' (PGR) application
Pinching and pruning crops
Fertilizer application (Fertigation) through proportionator
Regulating greenhouse environment using automated system
Crop scheduling
Scouting for insects and diseases
Pictures from an Internship at Village Fresh Farms-Lead grower of hydroponic tomatoes in Texas (Monahans, Marfa, and Fort Davis)
Here is What I Learned from Village Fresh Farms:
Crop work- planting, de-leafing, clip and shoot, lowering, harvesting, and packaging
Labor Management- rewarding more to the labors and rewarding more to the company
Pest Control: biological and chemical control of pests
Maintenance: Fixing general electricity, irrigation, welding, and machinery issues
Irrigation and controlling greenhouse environment
Quality Control
Food Safety
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