Indian agriculture is severely affected from climate change, fragmentation of cultivable land, water scarcity, rapid urbanization, declining crop production and productivity, crash in market price, declining biodiversity and ever-increasing population, demand for food, especially vegetables has increased manifold. Protected cultivation has offered a new dimension to produce more in a limited area. The study was undertaken during the year 2016-17 in the Kolar, Malur and Mulbagal taluks of Kolar district based on the maximum number of shade net structures growing tomato. From each taluk, respondents were selected by using purposive sampling procedure to constitute a sample size of 80 for the study. The study found that no one respondent raised nursery for seedlings. The probable reason might be lack of extension functionaries’ effort from respective departments. In the case of cultural practices, concerning ploughing, nearly two-thirds (62.50%) of the respondents partially adopted the recommended number of ploughings (2-3times). On the other hand, 100 per cent of the respondents didn't adoptthe digging practice, whereas more than half (53.75%) of the respondents had partially adopted the recommended size of the bed (1-meter width, 15 cm height and 0.5 meters between the rows) and nearly half (48.75%) of the respondents belonged to partial adoption category of bed treatment @ 4% formalin for tomato cultivation. The findings of Karl Pearson correlation coefficient showed that variables such as annual income, extension participation, exhibited a positive and significant relationship with the adoption behaviour of respondents at 1 per cent level of significance. Concerning the relationship of independent variables with the adoption of tomato, variables like annual income, extension participation, exhibited a positive and significant relationship with the adoption behaviour of respondents at 1 per cent level of significance.

Vegetable cultivation is an awesome business in India, however it is difficult to judge how they are safe for human consumption as farmers spray large amount of pesticides which not only increases the cost of cultivation but also leaves residual toxicity in vegetables. To address these challenges, protected cultivation technology i.e., poly house, shade net, micro tunnel etc., have been globally accepted in horticultural sector and there is a scope for economic viability of tomato and capsicum under shade net for profitable agriculture. The present study was conducted during 2016-17 to analyse the economic viability of vegetable production under protected cultivation the Kolar, Malur and Mulbagal taluks of Kolar district of Karnataka by involving 80 vegetable growers. The viability of investment in the Shade net for cultivation of capsicum and tomato were analyzed by using project analysis parameters such as Net Present Value (NPV), Benefit Cost Ratio (BCR), Internal Rate of Return (IRR) and Payback Period (PBP).The Cash flow analysis was calculated based on estimated expenditure and returns for both capsicum and tomato crops over the 15 years for analyzing the economic viability. The study highlighted that Investment on shade net for capsicum (BCR=1.69:1) cultivation is more profitable than tomato (BCR=1.48:1). The fixed costs for cultivation of both the crops capsicum and tomato under shade net were found to be same. The labour cost for capsicum (Rs.59, 493) cultivation was nearly equal to tomato (Rs.59, 181) cultivation under shade net in an one acre area. The variation in gross income and net income of both the crops was mainly due to stable price in market for capsicum as compared to tomato. Finally concluded that capsicum crop is more economical than tomato under shade net which create pathway for continues profitability as well as sustainability of agriculture.

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