Pelicans had just started taking off when Cyclone Fani hit the east coast of India in 2019. Harprasad Mohapatra, a retired master mariner from Tisipur, Odisha, started Pelican Aeroponic Farm just a year ago to grow exotic vegetables like lettuce, kale. , basil, cherry tomato and jalapeno.
High winds and rain broke the pelicans’ poly houses (a type of greenhouse with special polythene sheet covers), and the ‘grow towers’ fell into disrepair. Mohapatra’s farm is just 700 square metres, but has about 4,000 plants and can grow up to 100 kg of vegetables in a day. The small holding had inspired a one-time sailor to try aeroponics – with ‘grow towers’ that enabled him to grow crops vertically.
“The cyclone destroyed the entire farm,” says Mohapatra. I am trying to restore it.. We have started growing different varieties of lettuce, cherry tomatoes and jalapenos.
Pelican Aeroponic is one of two dozen farm startups that have emerged in India over the years with the promise of growing “better-than-organic” or “beyond-organic” fruits and vegetables. All these companies start with the big players like Barton Breeze others like Letetra Agritech, urban farmer And futurefarms Adopt modern farming methods such as hydroponics and aeroponics, which involve soilless farming in a controlled environment.
But what is hydroponics and aeroponics? Neither growth method uses soil. In hydroponics, the plant is usually placed on a ‘substrate’ (such as rock wool, volcanic ash, peat moss, coco coir or clay pebbles), which is periodically watered with nutrient-rich water. Many times hydroponic farmers do not use substrate; They simply place the plants along a channel through which the water flows. Aeroponic plants are never placed in the substrate or water; Here the plants are grown in controlled air environment. The exposed roots are periodically sprayed with a nutrient solution to keep the plants growing.
“Both these methods are ideal if the available land is not fertile or suitable for cultivation,” says Praveen Sharma. Agriculture Engineer and founder of Pune-based Flora Consult, which has established farms using these technologies in Lonavala, Surat, Bhubaneswar and Chennai and in Gulf countries and Africa.
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“Using these methods, and more specifically with aeroponics, one can set up vertical farms on grow towers. This is done to increase yield, even when the available land is low or not suitable for farming. Yes. You can have 75 to 100 plants per square meter using these techniques,” he says.
According to farm owners, hydroponics and aeroponics are ideal for growing small crops such as lettuce, strawberries, zucchini and other exotic vegetables, greens and even flowers (such as roses). Almost all of these farm owners and agritech startup Sell their produce as “beyond organic” vegetables.