The Indian Startup Growing Gardens In Unlikely Urban Spaces

“Mary, Mary, quite contrary,

How does your garden grow?

With silver bells, and cockle shells,

And pretty maids all in a row?”

If you’ve heard this rhyme ever in your life, and proceeded to grow a garden of your own, you’d know it takes a whole lot more than silver bells and cockle shells, barring all metaphors in mind. Living deep within the folds of the urban jungle, it’s often difficult to just get our hands in the mud and feel the satisfaction that comes with it - no space, no time, no know. Luckily, the 5 young brains behind Khetify - Saahil Pareikh, Kaustabh Khare, Mayank Jain, Shabnam Kapur and Surender Kumar - identified this to be the problem it is, and have come up with the most perfect solution yet - Khetify. The team of experts help people in urban areas convert their rooftops and balconies into manageable mini-farms!

Khetify offers more than 50 varieties of plants, and allows you to harvest organic and seasonable vegetables, salads, herbs and spices annually from just 200 square feet of terrace/balcony space. None of the seeds are Genetically Modified (GMOs) and are all heirloom in nature, with the exception of a few hybrids purely for increased pest resistance and improved yield.

The mini-farm is set up by the Khetify team and first-time gardeners, worry not! “We provide compost based, soil-less, modular and portable ‘khets’ and a year’s supply of high quality seasonal seeds,” says Shabnam Kapur, also promising that they will guide each of their customers for a year, including monthly/seasonal visit to check on the mini-farms. They encourage their customers to Whatsapp images and videos of the plants so that they can evaluate whether the plant needs anything more in terms of enrichment and medicine.

You’re probably thinking “Ain’t nobody got time to water a farm everyday” and you’re right, you don’t have to; nobody does. The drip irrigation system installed by Khetify will do that for you. The system is installed in two rows above the boxes, and once the tap is turned on it slowly drips water drop by drop. This saves upto 80% of water used in conventional watering. All you need to do is ensure that the drip irrigation is turned on for at least 10-15 minutes everyday. Khetify offers different packages for people who have different levels of experiences in gardening, ranging from the very basics, which offers an annual harvest of 50 kilos, to packages producing 300 kilos annually. You will also have the option of choosing between cane boxes and HDPE Plastic Grow Bags.

Setting up a mini-farm is priced at an all-inclusive Rs. 35, 000 per 125 sq. ft. of cane boxes. Depending on the type of box you use, your personal farm can be set up anywhere from 1-4 weeks of placing your order. All you have to do is go to their site and schedule a site visit. Khetify is operating only in Delhi NCR at present, but is hoping to expand it’s operations to Mumbai and other cities soon. Growing a garden has never been easier - it’s time to grow towards the future, alright.