Pluck your vegetables: A farm with a difference!

This journalist turned farmer owns and promotes organic farming

Hyderabad: A journalist turned farmer Vemula Satyanarayana sells organic vegetables with the theme 'Pluck your Vegetables' in his Sri Shiva Sai Nursery near Chilkur on the outskirts of Hyderabad.

People can get into the farmland and pluck vegetables of their choice. That way, they need not have any doubts about the freshness and quality of the vegetables. After seeing a rise in demand for his vegetables, he started home deliveries in the city.

The vegetables cultivated in the farm are: brinjal, lady's finger, carrot, cucumber, beetroot, radish, bitter gourd, bottle gourd, ridged gourd, and all the leafy vegetables. There are also rare vegetables like thorn brinjal, which is tastier and more nutritious than the other types. He also cultivates red leafy vegetables, which are nutritious and tastier. These varieties are supposed to contain more iron than the regular varieties of leafy veggies.

"People can with family to visit the farm and pluck the vegetables that they like. If they like the quality of the vegetables, they can order via the home delivery option next time," Satyanarayana told Bizz Buzz at his nursery.

The vegetables are cultivated purely using the organic farming techniques, such as using cow dung and urine besides other organic manure.

"We buy the seeds from the farmers. To ward off the insects from the vegetable crop, we grow flower plants around the vegetable plants," explained Satyanarayana.

Before starting his own cultivation at the farm, he experimented by growing the vegetable plants in 1,000 sq yards at home for two years. The concept got the publicity from social media and now people around Hyderabad including celebrities are visiting the farm and buying the vegetables.

"I learnt about 'pluck your vegetables' on the Internet, I found it interesting and visited the farm. We bought the vegetables and cooked there; found them to be tastier and of good quality," said Nagaraj, State Head, ACT Fibernet.

"So far, I have visited the farm 10 times to buy vegetables. I am impressed with Satyanaryana's reception and the interest he takes in teaching the children about organic farming. This is really a great initiative," he added.

"When we were searching for organic seeds to grow at home, we found this place. We, around 20 people including my children, learnt farming techniques from Satyanayana," said Sandhya, a software engineer, who is a regular customer to the nursery.

"I stopped buying leafy vegetables from the market as they are not of good quality. Leaf vegetables from this farm are of good quality, look fresh and healthy even after washing. The prices of the organic vegetables in the farm are less than those prevailing in markets," she said.

Satyanarayana said he has been motivating other farmers to switch to organic farming rather than using chemicals or fertilizers. "The State government should provide separate stalls for organic product vendors in Rythu Bazaars or vegetable markets to differentiate them from the regular vegetable vendors. There is also a need to create awareness among the general public," he maintained.

He also urged the government to establish cold storage units in the State. "These will benefit the organic farmers and also encourage the other farmers to take up organic farming," he concluded.