Have you ever wanted to grow your own vegetables or herbs at home but couldn’t due to lack of space? Or start a business that is profitable as well as organic? If so, hydroponic gardening could be the answer you’ve been looking for.
What is hydroponics?
The science of soilless gardening is called hydroponics. It basically involves growing healthy plants without the use of a traditional soil medium and by using a nutrient such as a mineral-rich water solution instead. A plant only needs selected nutrients, some water, and sunlight to grow. Plants not only grow without soil, but often grow much better with their roots in water.
What are its benefits?
Hydroponic gardening is fast becoming a popular choice for many green entrepreneurs around the world due to its more sustainable approach to resource use than regular farming methods. Here are some of its many benefits:
By providing constant and readily available nutrition, hydroponics allows plants to grow up to 50% faster than they would in soil. Additionally, fresh produce can be harvested from a hydroponic garden throughout the year.
Great for both the environment and the produce grown, hydroponic gardening virtually eliminates the need for herbicides and pesticides compared to traditional soil gardening.
The water used in hydroponic gardening stays in the system and can be reused, reducing the constant need for a fresh water supply.
Arable land is often in short supply and space for gardening continues to shrink. A great option when you’re tight on garden space or have a small balcony, hydroponics also lends itself very well to indoor gardening.
Startups with a hydroponics business
Only a seasoned gardener knows how difficult it can be to grow plants and how much extra care is needed with special attention to soil, fertilizer and light. One cannot do the process right and expect good returns without getting one’s hands dirty. But, to make your job much easier and convenient, many startups in India are working on hydroponic farming.
Here is a list of four startups in India that are innovating farming methods and leading the way in indoor farming.
Letcetra Agritech
Letcetra Agritech is Goa’s first indoor hydroponic farm, growing good quality vegetables without pesticides. The farm at Mapusa in Goa is an unused shed and currently produces more than 1.5-2 tons of leafy vegetables like various varieties of lettuce and herbs in its 150 square meter area. The startup is founded by Ajay Naik, a software engineer turned hydroponic farmer. He quit his IT job to help the country’s farmers.
BitMantis Innovations
Bangalore-based IoT and data analytics startup BitMantis Innovation, with its GreenSAGE IoT solution, enables individual and commercial farmers to grow fresh herbs year-round. The GreenSAGE is a microedition kit that uses hydroponic methods for efficient use of water and nutrients. It is equipped with two trays to grow microgreens at your convenience.
Junga FreshnGreen
Agricultural technology start-up Junga FreshnGreen has joined forces with InfraCo Asia Development Pte. Limited. (IAD) this year to develop hydroponic growing methods in India. The project began with the development of a 9.3 hectare hydroponic farm facility at Junga in the Shimla district of Himachal Pradesh.
Junga FreshnGreen is a joint venture with a leading Netherlands-based agricultural technology company, Westlandse Project Combinatie BV (WPC), to establish high-tech farms in India. Their goal is to create a hydroponic model that grows farm-fresh vegetables that have predictable quality, have little to no pesticides, and are unaffected by weather or soil conditions. They will be grown in a protected greenhouse environment.
future farms
Chennai-based Future Farms develops effective and affordable farm kits to facilitate hydroponics that preserves the environment while growing cleaner, fresher and healthier produce. It focuses on being friendly to the environment through rooftop farming and precision farming. The company develops indigenous systems and solutions, made from premium food-grade materials that are efficient and affordable.
This mode of cultivation could soon be adopted in condominiums and high-rises, as it would allow residents to grow vegetables free from the harmful effects of chemicals.
The demand for safer and healthier food has prompted the use of new technologies and scientific research to grow fruits and vegetables without chemicals.