How These Indian Startups Are Adopting Hydroponics To Harvest Fresh Produce

India is a country with the second largest population in the world.  A majority of rural Indians rely on farming as a livelihood, making India an agricultural country.  Agriculture contributed to 16 % of India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2016 and as per 2014 estimates, 47 % of the Country’s labour force was involved in agriculture.  Indian farming methods are mainly traditional, which involve tilling land and rotating crops for seasonal harvest. However, modern techniques like hydroponics are slowly emerging.  Hydroponics aims to reduce water usage and produce crops which are free of genetically modified organisms (GMOs.)

Two of India’s startups, which claim they are the largest hydroponics facilities, are Madhavi Farms in Bengaluru and Red Otter Farms in Nainital.  Both these startups employ ‘aquaponics,’ a type of aquaculture. Aquaponics combines aquaculture, which means raising fish and other aquatic animals in tanks and hydroponics, which is cultivating plants in water.

Working of an aquaponic farm

Fish are cultivated in a tank where they let the water pick up nutrients from the fish’s excreta.  This water is then sent to a hydroponic facility, where it is used to water the plants. The plants pick up all the necessary nutrients and purify the water.  This water is then recirculated into the fish tank. This forms a closed loop cycle where there is zero water discharge.  The fish and the farming produce are sold, providing two sources of revenue.

Viability of an aquaponic farm in India

Vijay Krishnamoorthy, the founder of Madhavi Farms and Anubhav Das, the co founder of Red Otter Farms, currently generate revenue through the B2B and the B2C models.  Given the amount of capital investment and the price of conventionally grown vegetables in the market, aquaponic farming is viable if the startups grow exotic varieties like Swiss chard, kale and mints.  Both Red Otter Farms and Madhavi Farms created a niche market for themselves by selling their produce to five star hotels and grocery supply chains like Bigbasket and Grofers. Madhavi Farms currently sells its produce to Bigbasket, Big Bazaar, the Marriott and Sheraton group of hotels.

Future of aquaponics in India

With hydroponics being a recent farming trend, it is yet to find acceptance in India and there are no clear government regulations in place.  While all the produce from these farms is organic in principle, the case in reality is different because the produce cannot be classified as organic under the present Indian norms.  As Anubhav Das from Red Otter Farms explains, “For farms to be organic, Indian laws require the crops and produce to be cultivated on soil, whereas aquaponics farms don’t use soil.”  Vijay Krishnamoorthy believes aquaponic farms are not a replacement for traditional farming but rather a substitute capable of catering to changing dietary trends in the affluent societies.

It will be interesting to see how the changing trends make urban farming and hydroponic farming mainstream farming methods.  Madhavi Farms and Red Otter Farms set the precedent for the future and a point of reference for other entrepreneurs who will be interested.