Farmers, who make around 58% of the country’s population, are still struggling to meet ends owing to unpredictable monsoon, poor infrastructure, need of skilled labour, quality of soil and seeds, and low use of farm technologies. Their entire livelihood depends on agriculture and the majority of them still depend on traditional farming techniques.
On top of it, the agriculture in India has always been governed by variables - weather, quality of soil and seed, availability of water, skilled labour, etc.
This has to change. But how do we solve this?
Solution:
Bring smart farming solutions like Hydroponic to grow any produce in any season.
Hydroponics, a blend of agriculture and technology, is a modern way used to increase yield, quality and profitability. In the contemporary times, the Hydroponics market is flourishing and contributing in shaping the future of the agriculture industry.
According to the World Economic Forum, the global population is expected to reach nearly 10 billion by 2050 and then the need for food will be 60% higher than what it is today. But, at the current rate of ecological degradation, there won’t be enough arable land left to meet this demand, leading to a food security crisis and sustainability issues.
Due to the ever-increasing global food demand, farmers require to adopt methods that will help them to maximize their yield. To cultivate more food within less space, growers need new farming approach and processes.
Hydroponic - a revamped agricultural technique can aid in producing healthier, fresh and more nutritious food having longer shelf life, thereby creating healthier ecosystem. Inclusion of technology in agriculture helps avoid wastage of water and land while providing the farmers with climate-controlled greenhouses to optimize crop production and crop quality throughout the year.
Hydroponic is a technology solution for India’s aid in agriculture.
Smart Hydroponic farms use vertically stacked growing beds and less than 1% of the space, which is a precious commodity in densely populated urban areas. Compared to the conventional farming, smart farms use 90% less water. Since most farms are located within city limits, the average distribution time from harvest to table averages 60 minutes, cutting down greenhouse gas-emitting travel time. Smart farms promise consistent pricing since the produce can be grown indoors, all year long. While traditional farming takes 45-60 days -- from growing seeds to harvesting -- smart farming does that in only 25 days.
Transforming India’s food system is key to attaining zero-hunger goal and the progressive agritech industry sure looks promising.
Agricultural technology allows growers to increase performance while lowering costs at the same time. And so, the expanding agritech market can prove to be a saviour for the country’s suffering farmers. The smart techniques can help the retailers, exporters and farmers to contribute to India’s GDP more than ever before. Healthy farming will lead to healthy produce that in turn will lead to healthy lifestyle.
Did you know that the average head of lettuce travels over 1,500 kilometres to get to your table. Also the Contamination and Chemicals in India is 800 times more than desired level.
The produce in Hydroponic is healthier, fresh and more nutritious and has longer shelf life which helps in creating healthier ecosystem. The technology helps in saving valuable water, land and labour resources moreover the controlled growing system enables to produce food with NO use of harmful chemicals and is also 100% residue free.
What is Hydroponics?
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State of art climate-controlled Greenhouses, combined with advanced horticulture and engineering techniques to optimize crop production, crop quality and food safety all year round.
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Companies use vertically stacked growing beds, up to 5 levels high, they use less than 1% of the space required by conventional growing, a precious commodity in densely populated urban areas.
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Hydroponic produce are grown in nutrient-rich water without pesticides, harvested weekly and delivered to sales outlets within couple of hours. It’s called living lettuce because the roots are left intact, which makes it last longer.
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Nowdays Hydroponic companies uses artificial intelligence and data analytics software to measure important indicators that helps in food / crop planning and help connect in food security ecosystem.
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With Cloud based data and farm output AI software, farmers can get all their farm and production details on the Cloud sitting in the comfort of their home or office.
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Agri companies use Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) guidelines and run extensive quality checks, laboratory tests and traceability techniques before the produce reaches your doorstep.
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Hydroponic produce are harvested a few hours before it reaches your plate. Close proximity of urban hydroponic farms to consumers helps companies achieve an extended shelf life.
We underestimate the power of good choices and individual behavioural change in creating a healthier food system.
Let us align our food habits with the wellbeing of the planet. Let us ask where our food is coming from and make our choices with more awareness. Let us consume with a mind, a heart and a conscience.
We want to bring sustainability to agriculture through smart farming, and we are not going to be able to get there if we use traditional method
Here’s how Hydroponic Farming is changing the game in India for farmers.
30x FASTER YIELD BY SMART FARMING:
State of art climate-controlled smart farm uses vertically stacked growing beds, up to 5 levels high, they use less than 1% of the space required by conventional growing, a precious commodity in densely populated urban areas.
90% LESS WATER
In our soil-less Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) farms, we can recycle and filter water for responsible resource use. As a plus, we don’t waste water from runoff or excess evaporation from the soil. We save 90% water compared to conventional agriculture
FAST DISTRIBUTION
Since most farms are located within city limits, the average distribution time from harvest to table averages 60 minutes, cutting down greenhouse gas-emitting travel time. The CEA farms itself acts like in-built cold storage for plants.
Price Point
Because one can grow produce on our indoor farms 365 days a year, farmers can get consistent pricing no matter the season.
25 DAYS
It just takes 25 days to grow from seed to harvest. Traditional farming averages 45-60 days!
365 DAYS – Grow all year around
Our growing season lasts throughout the year. Through storms or sunshine, winter or summer, our greens thrive can thrive in any area of the world. Reducing, climate change. This also translates into less food waste on farms and more fresh produce for you.
Cloud Based Artificial Intelligence
Cloud based data analytics and farm output AI software. Farmers can get their farm and production details sitting in the comfort of their home or office. It measures important indicators that helps in crop planning and help connect in food security ecosystem.
There’s a huge opportunity to be able to be part of what could easily be a revolution in agriculture.
The food production needs to be increased by 70% in the next 30 years. If we don’t bring technology to agriculture, we’re not going to get there. The good thing is that technology will allow us to increase performance and lower costs at the same time. There is going to be a point where vertical farming costs will keep going down and will match with the traditional agriculture costs.
Future of urban kids & family
The millennials and generations after that have purchasing power and are starting to control the market wallet. They are not tech resistant, but they love technology. They want pure and healthy leafy greens in their houses every week. Hence, we need to take it further, which means doing it better and always driving down costs. It’s quality food for everyone and not only for a few.
Currently millennials are 50% of the labour force. By 2025, they will be 75% of the labour force, so they are defining the market preference. Millennials are the generation that is reading product labels, more than any other generation in the past has done. In the past, people were loyal to brands, volume vs. price, but that has completely changed. That is why this generation is perfect for new-age farming because they will value all these attributes that smart farming brings. They will get informed; it’s just about finding the right communication strategy.
Going forward, in the near future, all households will be able to consume food that we can blindly trust to not harm us in any way.
Healthy Farming will lead to Healthy Produce that in turn will lead to a Healthy Lifestyle.
It’s time to be healthy.
Author Details
Shivendra Singh,
Founder and CEO, Barton Breeze Pvt Ltd
Website: www.bartonbreeze.com
Email: info@bartonbreeze.com
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