A former banker established a Rs 5 lakh monthly company at his house. Trays of nutrient-rich microgreens growing in a regulated hidden area without soil or sunshine.
Former Citigroup employee Ajay Gopinath now grows organic microgreens in a small 80-square-foot area at home to make Rs 5 lakh a month. When he saw a small, nutrient-rich garnish on a salad at a restaurant, his entrepreneurial journey took an unexpected turn.
He was intrigued by the prospect of cultivating microgreens and found that the nutrients in these rapidly growing seedlings are 40 times greater than those in mature plants.
Ajay started his business, Grow Greens, after spending two years conducting research. At first, he only had two racks and kept the temperature below 25°C and the humidity between 40 and 60 percent.
The crop was ready in seven days. To get the greatest results, microgreen production calls for a scientific approach and entails the use of trays, seeds, and cocopeat.
Around 2017 or 2018, I began experimentally growing them on a small scale. Ajay remembers, “After two years of research and experimentation, I finally figured it out, even though I wasn’t sure about the right methods.
” He currently grows more than 15 different types of microgreens, and his profitable business generates up to Rs 5 lakh in sales each month.
Ajay’s journey to achievement was filled with mistakes. When he first tried growing microgreens, he grew green gram on tissue paper, but the outcome was not at all what he had anticipated. He sought advice from a microgreens specialist in the UK after realizing that a lot of internet instructions were untrustworthy.
Not every seed can grow into a microgreen, he informed me. According to him, these seeds are open-pollinated, non-hybrid, non-treated, and non-genetically modified organisms (GMOs). He was able to improve his strategy and make sure he was utilizing the correct seeds thanks to this guidance.
Ajay’s journey to achievement was filled with mistakes. When he first tried growing microgreens, he grew green gram on tissue paper, but the outcome was not at all what he had anticipated. He sought advice from a microgreens specialist in the UK after realizing that a lot of internet instructions were untrustworthy.
Not every seed can grow into a microgreen, he informed me. According to him, these seeds are open-pollinated, non-hybrid, non-treated, and non-genetically modified organisms (GMOs). He was able to improve his strategy and make sure he was utilizing the correct seeds thanks to this guidance.
He developed his method for growing microgreens indoors in controlled settings after obtaining premium seeds from Bengaluru, Pune, and Chhattisgarh. “I had two trays at first, and I never thought I’d go on to become a commercial success.
” However, after I gave them to my pals, they responded really well. The taste and quality pleased them all. I saw it had the potential to be a successful business at that point,” he recalls.
These days, Ajay cultivates a range of microgreens, such as beet, mustard, sunflower, and radish. In addition to running his own company, Ajay has assisted more than 30 farmers in India in establishing their own microgreen farms.
