Beleaf it or not

In 2017 pilot Harsh Parekh was surprised to see a woman harvest coriander and other greens near the railway tracks at Kurla Since then he has been admittedly concerned about where the vegetables he consumes are grown Around that time Benjamin Netyanyahu the Prime Minister of Israel had come down and introduced hydroponic farming to PM Modi Since then I had been keeping track of developments in this sector he tells usHydroponics is a method of growing plants in a waterbased nutrientrich solution Instead of soil the root system is supported using an inert medium such as perlite rockwool clay pellets peat moss or vermiculitePak choy saplingIn April Parekh and fellow pilot Ishan Modi along with their partners Garima and Soumya Banerjee launched FarmJet Modi says the premise of hydroponics is to allow the roots to come in direct contact with the nutrient solution while also having access to oxygen Since Ishan and I used to fly a lot we were always living out of a suitcase Due to COVID19 we suddenly had a lot of time on our hands Which is when we thought of setting up the farmTo supply vitaminrich veggies to consumers during the pandemic they began with growing kale iceberg lollo rosso romaine pakchoi Italian basil red basil baby spinach rocket arugula and Swiss chard at a terrace farm in Chembur The terrace proved to be the perfect choice since growing the plants indoors would mean providing them an artificial source of energy instead of sunlight using LED lights which wouldve upped the projects carbon footprint In a country like ours where sunlight is available in abundance we wanted to go as clean as possible explains Modi He says the technology can be used anywhere in the world at any locationFounders Harsh Parekh and Ishan ModiThe facility is equipped with Aframes or Ashaped structures of metal about 6feet tall with 12 to 20feet UPVC pipes resting on them Each Aframe can hold up to 432 plants Depending on the seeds the germination process takes around three to seven days before they can be transplanted into jiffy bags Jiffy bags are lightweight growbags made of coconut husk and filled with nutrient solution They hold the plants and support the roots making them stronger But the key to getting it right is sourcing the right nutrients in the right combinations and choosing the right quantity of nutrients to be added in the tanks says ParekhThe team spent a fair bit of time experimenting with veggies to ascertain the right seeds that would thrive in the given setup Its awfully expensive to set up a facility such as this especially with UPVC pipes which cost more than double PVC pipes On a larger scale a polytunnel is needed which again is expensive The technology also needs daily monitoring and planning says ModiThe advantages however outweigh the cons Its insecticide and pesticidefree and because theres no soil needed there are no weeds and therefore fewer pests and diseases We end up using 11 times less space to produce as much and only 10 per cent of the water used in conventional farming which is later recycledsays ParekhWell past the concept stage they now hope to make people aware of this niche technology What we really need to battle is the lack of awareness and the unwillingness to pay that extra buck for veggies grown like thisKeep scrolling to read more newsCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and a complete guide from food to things to do and events across Mumbai Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest news