A Greenhouse In A Box For Small Farmers

Lush growth inside a low-cost Kheyti greenhouse in Telangana.

With one-tenth of the water and pesticides required and a manifold increase in yield, greenhouses can be transformative. The catch is that their upfront investment cost puts them beyond the reach of those who need them the most—small farmers dependent on rain or borewells. But what if a minimalistic greenhouse is designed from the outset, keeping in mind the needs and limitations of small farmers?

Hyderabad-based Kheyti has partnered with manufacturing and design companies to introduce such a concept. Its modular greenhouse kit, including a drip irrigation system, occupies just a tenth of an acre and costs less than ₹1 lakh. That’s much smaller and cheaper than normal greenhouses which only large farmers can afford. Around 500 farmers in Telangana are the early adopters of this “greenhouse in a box", which comes along with inputs like the appropriate seeds and fertilizers.

It began on a 1.8-acre farm in Narayanpur village, 60km north of Hyderabad, in 2017, recalls Kaushik K., co-founder, and CEO of Kheyti. “Venkatesh and his wife Lakshmi were growing rice along with some vegetables on the side. They worked hard, but their annual income of ₹30,000 barely sufficed for a family of five. The biggest challenge for them was that they could not fully utilize even their 1.8 acres of land because their borewells would run dry in the summer months," says Kaushik.

Model farm

Kheyti had set up an R&D farm on the outskirts of Hyderabad to demonstrate its greenhouse to small farmers. Venkatesh was among the first to visit the farm. “We showed him he could grow high-quality vegetables with so much more yields. But he had only one question: How much water would it need? When we explained that for the greenhouse he would run his borewell pump for only five minutes compared to an hour’s running time for his open field, he was ready to sign up," says Kaushik.

There was a hitch. The ₹5 lakh cost of the greenhouse was relatively low but still too much to raise for the likes of Venkatesh. So, why not make it even smaller and more affordable? It’s from such interactions that Kheyti’s greenhouse designs evolved.

“Venkatesh was the first one and after getting his greenhouse, he continued to give us feedback on what we should do for the next version," recounts Kaushik.

Today, Kheyti offers a 400 sq. m greenhouse for ₹80,000, with insect netting, shade netting, and polyethylene sheets to protect crops from pests, heat and excessive rain. That compares favourably with the ₹25 lakh that a one-acre (4,047 sq. m) greenhouse of this type would cost.

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VIDEO: 8 Startups That Are Revolutionizing AgTech

Agriculture is changing rapidly in the modern age. The global population is rising at an alarming rate and consumer preferences are shifting towards organic and sustainably produced goods. To keep up with these demands, the traditional agriculture industry must adopt new technologies to make farms more efficient and automate production.

The growing interest in AgTech is reflected in venture capital investments for AgTech startups. According to Pitchbook, $6.7 billion was invested in AgTech startups in the last five years and $1.9 billion in the last year alone. These 8 AgTech startups are paving the way to revolutionize the future of the agriculture industry.

1. Big Wheelbarrow

Big Wheelbarrow connects wholesale food buyers with local farmers. Big Wheelbarrow makes it faster and easier for buyers to work with small independent growers, regardless of size. Their technology empowers their customers to offer local products to their clients without the time and effort it used to require.

2. Vestaron

Vestaron Corporation develops and produces insecticides by employing peptides sourced from spiders in the United States. Its products are used in agricultural, animal health, and specialty non-crop applications, as well as in-household insects and commercial pest control applications.

3. Cainthus

Cainthus is developing the world’s most advanced technology for dairy farms today; technology that’s transformational for animals, farmers, and the production of food. Using computer vision and artificial intelligence to identify health, reproduction, and environmental changes early on, Cainthus translates visual information into actionable data.

4. Rex Animal Health

Rex Animal Health is on a mission to help livestock producers and farmers feed the world by increasing productivity and predicting, preventing, and precisely managing disease in the herd. They have a built up the largest database of clinical, health, performance, and genetic data on these livestock. Also, agribusinesses can use this data in order to understand their supply chain to identify the source of potential food borne illness, find the most efficient producers, set prices in commodities trading, and to understand and assess risk to increase transparency in the food supply chain.

5. Smallhold

Smallhold provides retailers and restaurants with contained-­environment vertical farm units that produce large amounts of mushrooms, herbs, and leafy greens with minimal labor. Their current product offering is with on-site mushroom production and can produce up to 120 lbs/week in the space of a bookcase. The mushrooms are certified organic and are competitive with conventional ways of growing.

6. Babylon Micro-farms

Babylon Micro-farms provides an on-demand indoor farming service to make sustainable indoor farming more accessible than ever before. Their farms grow fresh produce 2x faster using 90% less water than conventional agriculture, without the use of pesticides or harmful chemicals. Their business model drastically reduces the upfront costs and expertise associated with indoor agriculture, powered by a patented IoT platform that remotely operates the ecosystem of farms.

7. Kiverdi

Kiverdi technology uses all-natural microbes to transform CO2 and other gases into high-valued nutrients, oils, and bio-based products. Kiverdi’s proprietary platform, which extends early NASA research, converts carbon dioxide from diverse industrial and agricultural sources into new materials using proprietary gas fermenting microbes.

8. Cambridge Crops

Cambridge Crops develops natural and edible coatings to extend the shelf life of a wide variety of perishable foods. Their coatings regulate the exchange of gases and slow down bacterial growth. These unique attributes allow for drastic improvements in shelf life for everything from avocados and spinach to meat and seafood. Cambridge Crops’ technology is easily integrated into existing packing and processing lines, minimizing the need for supply chain changes or expensive on-boarding. By increasing the window of peak freshness, Cambridge Crops allows food producers, food processors, and retailers to extend shelf lives, reach new markets, and reduce waste.

Indoor Agtech :: Innovation Summit :: iGrow News Partner Discount

Hear From And Connect With International Thought Leaders Including:

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Strapline: 

Connecting Technology & Business to Create Healthy, Resilient Food Systems

Mission Statement

The Indoor AgTech Innovation Summit is going virtual!  This year’s summit will be live online on July 23, 2020, providing an essential opportunity for the industry to meet, network, and exchange ideas at this critical time for our industry.

The world’s leading farm operators, food retailers, and investors will present live, before hosting virtual discussion groups on the emerging trends and technologies that will shape your business as we emerge from the current crisis into a redesigned food system:

Key Themes:

• Finding Growth in Crisis: Responding to a Rapidly Changing Food Landscape

• Scaling Up: Co-locating Food Production and Distribution Centers

• Enhancing Nutritional Value: Towards a Perfect Plant Recipe

• Optimizing Seeds for Indoor Agriculture: Breeding a Competitive Advantage

• Analytics and the Cloud: Digital Integration to Optimize Indoor Agriculture

• Robotics: Developing a Contactless Food System

• Energy Consumption: Driving Efficiency and Economic Viability

• Financing Growth: Can Capital Keep Pace with Industry Demand?

• Consumer Awareness: How to Build a “Holistic” Indoor Brand

All participants can schedule video 1-1 meetings with potential partners and clients throughout the summit, and for an extended period before and after the sessions.

By sharing best practice from around the globe, and facilitating new connections and collaborations, the summit offers an invaluable platform to develop new business and accelerate projects across the Indoor AgTech ecosystem.

We Are Proud To Be A Marketing Partner For Indoor AgTech
Save 10% With Our Discount Code UAN10

Summit website: https://indooragtechnyc.com/

Registration:

• One summit pass Indoor AgTech: $195.00

• Start-Up pass: $95.00 / Please contact alexander@rethinkevents.com to enquire about the criteria to qualify for special rates.

https://indooragtechnyc.com/register/

Thursday, July 23rd, 2020

10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

© 2020 Rethink Events Ltd

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Food Production Will Be Part of

Daily Urban Life Again!

iGrow.News, partner of indoor agtech innovation summit, wishes you an unforgettable event. 

Expert Insights: Advancing Indoor and Vertical Farming Opportunities during COVID-19

The indoor and vertical farming industry has fast-tracked many opportunities to help feed consumers during a global pandemic. The virtual Indoor AgTech Innovation Summit will identify how the world’s leading farm operators found a gap in the market to meet consumer demand and deliver fresh and healthy produce with discussions led by Lipman Farms, Gotham Greens and Smallhold.

Here’s what our experts have to say about the current crisis:

Elyse Lipman, Director of Strategy, Lipman Farms, USA

Will the legacy of COVID 19 be further automation in the food production sector? Will we ever reach a contactless food system? COVID-19 has raised awareness about prospects of automation, but it’s also reinforced the importance of people in this business. At Lipman, each and every stage of the value chain requires coordination and care by our team members. The human element of what we do is important for providing food for people to eat – and we know that the quality of our products and sustainability of our company depends on the people behind the scenes. That said, where there are opportunities for automation that make sense such as machines in packing houses and indoor environments. I think it’s fair to say that humans can be relieved of those tasks and refocused on others. To help us stay ahead of the curve on food safety, for example, we use a web-based training platform that helps customize training, track completions, and easily identify opportunities for improvement. COVID-19 has only reinforced how technology can serve as valuable tools, while also creating new roles for people that are still safe and distanced across the food system.

At Lipman, we’ve diversified our farming techniques over the decades with indoor, outdoor, and hybrid growing environments. We know that growing produce in any capacity requires ingenuity, a learning mindset, and constant adaptation. Two years ago we acquired Huron Produce and while our Suntastic hot house brand continues to deliver high-quality products on the retail shelf, some of the most exciting learnings for us have come from the collaborations between teams.  We see indoor ag as both distinct and complementary to our conventional farming practices. I think COVID-19 also revealed to our customers the vulnerabilities of relying on any one supply source, and the value in being able to source from multiple channels.

Viraj Puri, CEO and Co-Founder, Gotham Greens, USA

Demand for local and resilient supply chains is growing, how can indoor agriculture capitalize on this opportunity? Given current pressures on the U.S. food system, one thing is clear: the importance of strengthening our country’s food supply chain through decentralized, regional supply chains. Our business model has enabled us to remain nimble during these unprecedented times and continue to deliver fresh, locally grown produce to customers and our communities. Growing produce indoors certainly has an increasing role to play in the future of sustainable food production. While indoor farming may not represent the future of all fresh produce production, for certain types of crops like leafy greens, herbs, tomatoes and cucumbers, it will become more prevalent.

Gotham Greens has been rapidly expanding our footprint across the US, including opening four new greenhouses in the past 6 months. Today Gotham Greens operates 500,000 square feet of greenhouse across five U.S. states with more than 350 employees. Just last month we opened our newest greenhouse in the Denver Metro area. Although we never envisioned our Denver greenhouse opening during a global pandemic, we’re proud to be providing people in the Mountain Region and across the country with healthy, safe and fresh food options they can get excited about.

Andrew Carter, CEO, SMALLHOLD, USA

Although somewhat harder to find, consumers are still out there. How have Smallhold gone about finding them?
Strangely, consumers have found us. People who try our mushrooms love them and tell their friends. While we scrambled a bit in the beginning, we kept moving full steam. Instead of shutting down, we implemented South Korean-style measures for our warehouse, farm, and office. Then, we launched a new nationally distributed product that allows folks to grow mushrooms at home rather than travel to the grocery store. Now Smallhold is in homes in every state as we gear up for a national expansion of our retail presence in 2020. The product was featured in Bon Appetit, Vice’s Garage, and HypeBeast and is still going strong, although it is not a core business line for us, we continue to see it grow.

How can a grower best manage the expectations of their investors in times as uncertain as these?
Fortunately, as we mentioned above, things are weirdly going well for us. There was a brief period during which we were uncertain, but once our DTC campaign results came in, we became our investors’ case study for what to do in situations like these. As with many things in life, communication is key. At Smallhold, we’ve always had an open dialogue with our investors, and the pandemic hasn’t changed that. Even as the global outlook changes week by week, we’ve worked to provide our investors with a regular cadence of communication and data alongside a clear narrative and plan of action that makes them feel comfortable with the quick decisions we have to make every day. When the world shifts, success can take many forms, and our stakeholders are happy with how we’ve managed it.