INDIA: Gurgaon Based Startup Nutrient Co Integrates Hydroponics With Yogic Farming Techniques
Gurgaon based startup Nutrient Co, founded by Arpit Jain, harnesses and uses the power of human mind and delivers pesticide-free greens and herbs that are UV sterilized and ozone washed at its state of the art, hydroponic farm, within 2 to 8 hours of its harvest.
After having lost his father and two of his close family members, Gurgaon based entrepreneur says he researched extensively about the growing number of cancer patients in India and factors owing to such an increase and he wasn’t shocked to find our lifestyle, stress, and degraded quality of food we consume as the primary reasons.
Recalling his search for pesticide-free food, he says, “The quality of vegetables and fruits in the capital is so bad, despite India being the largest agro-based economy of the world. The vegetables & fruits from local vendors/ sabziwalas and mandis come through long supply chains. With them, there was always a concern about hygiene, freshness of the produce, and its quality. I even researched and tried some online vendors of imported herbs like basil and parsley, but to my disappointment, they were waxed and chemically treated for longer shelf life.”
Not long after, he began researching about Urban farming technologies, which enables one to trace where their food is coming as opposed to the prevalent mandi model. This is when he opted out of his family-run business and started his own hydroponic farm, which not only consumes 90% lesser water than traditional farming, uses no chemical weed or pest control products, but also decreases the time between harvest and consumption, thereby, increasing the nutritional value of the end product.
What intrigued him, even more, was getting connected with premier spirituality preaching institutes and learning and experiencing how powerful our thoughts are and deeper elements of metaphysics.
The startup dedicated a year to field research to understand the supply chain of traditionally produced crops, use of pesticides, the role of cold storage units, mandi operations, artificially controlled demand & supply, amongst other factors, which made Arpit’s decision to startup even firmer.
Alongside, Arpit was intensively studying and practicing meditative techniques, metaphysics, how our thoughts create vibrations. What influenced his decision to integrate hydroponics and yogic agriculture most was a study conducted by Japanese Businessman Masaru Emoto on how human consciousness can affect the molecular structure of water, later published in his book in 2004.
The entrepreneur says he is personally convinced of the benefits of yogic farming and knows from first-hand experience that when the farm is treated with certain meditative techniques and intentions and not just for profit when it is given those pure yogic vibrations, it flourishes in more ways than one. “I personally experienced the qualitative benefits of the produce from yogic agriculture, providing greater stability of mood, a more positive outlook, a decrease in depression, and improved relationships. And what can explain any of this better than the saying: Jaisa ann waisa mann (What you eat is what you become)”.
The method that start-up follows begins with a process of “seed empowerment” with meditation and positive intention of growth, purity, and strength to the seeds during germination. When the seeds are finally planted, different methods of meditation are used. Physical evidence has been observed by the startup that crops grown from empowered seeds have greater root germination and stronger growth.
Bootstrapped so far, the startup started delivering in September 2020.
The entrepreneur says he is happy with the response they got since inception, managing to get around 50 monthly subscriptions in their first month along with one time sales and almost doubling this number in the following month. This has also ensured that none of their produce goes to waste.
Arpit says he has also managed to enroll half a dozen B2B clients in his bouquet of clients and was surprisingly happy to see the demand for his produce with restaurants and cloud kitchens, who despite of the price difference between hydroponic produce and mandi crops owing to quality weigh quality, taste, and freshness as more important factors for their business than economic benefits.
Slowly and steadily, it aims is to make a qualitative difference in Indian households because “Your health is our priority”.
For more information: Arpit Jain (Founder) Nutrient Co, India contact@nutrientco.in