Growers of the World Series - Nourishing Farms, India

Meet Nourishing Farms – Maharashtra, India

Growing: Leafy greens and capsicum

System: NFT system 384 m², harvesting 12.5k heads per month, and a 3 acre drain-to-waste system using cocopeat

After studying to become a software engineer and living in the United States for 15 years, Diwakar Bedekar wanted to bring his passion for cooking, gardening, and healthy eating to his home country of India to solve problems that have a large impact on society.

Growing up, his family lived an agricultural life that was difficult and backbreaking and limited his opportunities for a higher standard of living. Looking back at his roots, he realized most of his generation had moved away from agriculture, but there was a continuous need for good-quality food. He wanted to find a way to bring technology to India’s agriculture industry that made it more appealing to the younger generation while reducing the environmental impacts of traditional agriculture practices.

With this vision, Diwakar decided to return to his agricultural roots and invest in hi-tech hydroponic farming. This innovative approach allowed him to reimagine the healthy food industry from farm to fork, leading to the introduction of fresh foods such as salads, sandwiches, juices, ready-to-eat spreads, and condiments using freshly harvested, hydroponically grown vegetables from their farm.

In 2015 he hired Dr. Suresh Dhumal as the chief grower for their 384 m² (4,133 ft²) NFT system to grow exotic leafy greens. So they could focus on making the business successful and profitable; they wanted technology that fit the size of their system, delivering precise fertigation on a pre-programmed schedule, and yet was simple to use. Nourishing Farms researched the best pH and Conductivity (EC) systems for CEA and learned about Bluelab in New Zealand. Working with their Indian associate distributor, they purchased the Bluelab Pro Controller with PeriPod and the Bluelab Combo Meter.

They still use the original Bluelab Combo Meter purchased in 2015 and harvest 12,500 heads of leafy greens per month for GardenBite, a subscription and lunch delivery service for Pune, a town 3 hours southeast of Mumbai and ranked the most liveable city in India.

Bluelab products give Dr. Dhumal “more precision in monitoring and controlling the growing parameters with reduced manual stress and has resulted in giving more time for other critical business processes.”

Adopting technology whilst minimizing manual labor has been their strategy to spark interest in agriculture for future generations.

Nourishing Farms also grows capsicum in cocopeat slabs in a drain-to-waste system (pictured above). The Bluelab Pulse Multimedia EC/MC Meter allows them to monitor substrate moisture and Conductivity (EC) to track their irrigation events.

The reliability of the Bluelab Pro Controller “has reduced the manual labor, thus reducing any human error that would have negatively affected production.”

Having instant and real-time data on their mobile for the Pro Controller and Bluelab Pulse Meter adds interest for the younger generation, who want to understand the data and how to continuously improve operations.

"Bluelab has reduced our manual labor usage and minimized human error by allowing us to keep the optimal growing conditions for plant nutrient uptake — giving us better yields."

-Dr. Suresh Dhumal

Nourishing Farms are committed to growing residue-free vegetables and using hydroponics to give plants the optimal environment to grow, reducing damage that can affect less healthy plants. They have found that working in the greenhouse simulating climatic conditions builds greater customer loyalty since they are less dependent on seasonality and can offer fresh produce year-round.

Nourishing Farms are passionate about supporting the agriculture industry in India. They are dedicated to uplift farmers with right-size technology and supporting women's empowerment by offering higher-wage local employment opportunities. Working with Bluelab has shown them that they can reach these goals and have a meaningful agriculture business that can improve the standard of living for themselves, their employees, and their customers.

Browse the Bluelab products used by Nourishing Farms:

Bluelab Pro Controller Wi-Fi

Bluelab PeriPod M3

Bluelab Combo Meter

Bluelab Pulse Multimedia EC/MC Meter