INDIA: Roots of Labour: IIM Alumni's Startup Barton Breeze Brings Farms To Your Doorstep
Gurugram-based Barton Breeze sets up fully-automated hydroponic farms using its in-built technologies to grow clean and pesticide-free vegetables.
22nd Apr 2019
We all know that home-cooked food is the best. But what we really don’t seem to consider is the backend process – vegetables grown using chemicals, pesticides, and insecticides to increase their yield. These chemicals get accumulated in the soil, and in turn, increases the plant's uptake of chemicals. As a result, by the time the food reaches our plate, it would have lost half its nutritional value, and we might be consuming vegetables with high pesticide residues.
Solving this pain-point is Gurugram-based Barton Breeze. Started by Shivendra Singh (31) in 2016 in Dubai, UAE, with a mission to bring technology innovation in the farming sector, Barton Breeze focuses on Hydroponics. It is a method of growing plants without soil by making use of mineral nutrient solutions. It reduces water consumption as well as increases yield.
Shivendra Singh, Founder
The company, which started operating in India by the end of 2017, wants to give ‘clean food’ to its customers throughout the year, without being affected by the changing seasons.
At present, Barton Breeze grows 28 varieties of crops, including edible flowers, eight different coloured bell peppers, lettuce, different varieties of tomatoes, and micro-greens at its farms across India.
The beginnings
After graduating from IIM Ahmedabad, Shivendra worked with the Landmark Group in Dubai. Later, in 2016, he started working on a pilot project around hydroponics and set up two container farms in Dubai. Shivendra says, it was then he met Ratnakar Rai (49), an Agro Technologist, in an agri-tech meet.
“We shared our thoughts on the need for hydroponic and clean food in India, and soon he joined me on my second research project,” says Shivendra.
After setting up a branch in India, Ratnakar, who specialises in Controlled Environment Agriculture, joined the company as the Co-founder.
Shivendra and Ratnakar Rai (L-R)
“Ratnakar can do magic in agri-support and operation. But we needed tech support for faster growth, and that’s when Dheeraj joined us,” Shivendra adds.
Dheeraj Joshi (35) has over 14-years of experience working with software and automation companies in India, the UK and Singapore.
While keeping Dubai farms operational, Barton Breeze entered the Indian market by the end of 2017. The company has developed six fully-automated farms within a year in four states namely Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand.
However, “Getting skilled operators was impossible, and we had to train and build our own ground staff team. We are now a team of six core members, supported by 14 field farms,” says Shivendra.
Quality control using tech
Barton Breeze builds farms, operates it, and directly sells the produce to the customer. This end-to-end operation not only reduces the final cost to the consumers, but also ensures total control over quality.
The team claims to have built fully-automated farms using its in-built technology.
“We have built a software where we clip a device on the leaves and stem of each plant. The software is connected to the computers, and informs the user when a particular plant needs more nutrients or minerals,” says Shivendra.
However, the journey wasn’t as easy for the team. “The supplier base was limited, and so we developed products ourselves and encouraged vendors to develop a few,” says Shivendra.
As a result, Barton Breeze has five hydroponic products developed in-house. This includes Nutrient Film Technique channels, home gardening essentials, and consumables like plat nutrition, net pots, and grow media.
Inside a Barton Breeze farm
The startup is now a retail supplier of these products, and this “adds up to 15 percent of our revenue,” Shivendra adds.
Debolina thinks life is all about seeking that one "great
perhaps". She considers herself a foodie and wants to
have her own food and travel column in a magazine someday