HYDERABAD: It was their dream to create something that has a purpose and creates impact on urban living. After Arjun Aiyyagari came across the concept of hydroponics or soilless cultivation, he realised that it is one of the best ways of sustainable farming and can change how people eat in urban areas. He teamed up with Shiva Susarla and thus, Urban Tiller, a farm-to-table agribusiness, was born in 2018. This kind of farming uses media like coco peat to grow vegetables, and requires 60 percent less water than traditional farming.
“I came across the concept of soilless cultivation three years ago, and it caught my attention. I attended a few workshops to check if it has any potential.After we received some proof of concept in Hyderabad, we established the company,” said Arjun. The start-up has a polyhouse at Medchal in Hyderabad where they grow greens in a temperature-controlled environment with the help of four contract farmers.
Urban Tiller is now aggressively tying up with farmers to deliver freshest of produce to people’s doorsteps. “We tell the farmers how to grow residue-free produce. We provide them data on the latest customer preferences, and a platform to sell and distribute their crops. We are looking to expand beyond Hyderabad now.” The company started out by supplying indigenous and exotic greens like garden sorrel, amaranthus, spinach, red lettuce, kale and others. Recently, they have added staple vegetables like tomatoes, potatoes, okra and chillies to their product line.
Arjun worked for 15 years in manufacturing and outsourcing industries before starting Urban Tiller. Shiva is also the founder of RENERGii Asia, where all his work revolves around making cities more liveable, sustainable and circular. Explaining why they opted for hydroponics, Arjun said: “Soilless cultivation is a sustainable way of farming that does not abuse the land with fertilizers and pesticides. There is no dependency on the quality of soil, and hence can be practised locally.
The freshness of produce is mainly determined by how soon one can deliver the vegetables harvested. The staler the vegetables, the less is the nutritional value. When you grow the vegetables locally, this time frame is reduced and their freshness remains intact.”
— Kakoli Mukherjee kakoli_mukherjee@newindianexpress. com @KakoliMukherje2