Nowadays, as we are not able to eat fruits and vegetables in an organic way, youth have been showing some interest again in farming and innovating new techniques with their knowledge. Meet 23-year-old Sandeep Kannan a young farmpreneur from Tirupati who is an inspiration for all the Youth.
In this article, we are going to look into how a college graduate is earning thousands of rupees with hydroponic farming, how he started this concept and many more.
Know How Sandeep Kannan Has Started His Farming Through Hydroponics Technology
A 23-year-old graduate resident of Andhra Pradesh, Sandeep Kannan from Tirupathi the son of a farmer completed his BSc in Agriculture from Tamilnadu Agriculture University. He completed his graduation in 2020.
After completing graduation, most of his friends started moving to tier-1 cities to explore career prospects and even Sandeep has started preparing for the civil service competitive exams to get the government job.
But he was not at all satisfied in preparing for civil service exams, and he had a thought in mind “ Why does a person like me who came from an agricultural family want to seek another vocation”. That one thought changed his career.
Small Beginnings Made Huge Difference in Life
During the COVID-19 lockdown, he sat and thought that, rather than picking farming as a career we have much more to think about. As he is already a graduate in agriculture farming, he decided to start polyhouse farming methods.
After reading books and doing some in-depth research he was attracted to “Hydroponics”, which is another type of farming, and this method is less explored in his place.
So he thought it would be a good idea. Hydroponics is nothing but a method of growing plants without using soil, just by using a water-based mineral nutrient solution.
These days every vegetable and fruit is full of pesticides, so he wanted to provide nutritious fruits and veggies with clean and pesticide-free. Immediately, as a trail Sandeep started to cultivate, lettuce and spinach on his home terrace.
He set up PVC pipes and everything and started growing, and harvested his first round of produce in November. At the same time, his father was diagnosed with high sugar levels and the doctor suggested that eat fresh and chemical-free food in his diet.
So as he already had experience on a small scale he started to upgrade the project and started a small “urban farm”.
Challenges Faced To Start the Project
When he got the idea to make the project big, he said that raising capital was a major challenge for him. But anyhow his family loaned him some money to start and gave him support and trust that their money would not be wasted.
Like that, Sandeep has started a small startup on his half-acre agricultural land at Thanepalle, by naming his farm “Vyavasayi Bhumi”. And started growing spinach, red amaranth, basil, kale, palak, Chinese cabbage, lettuce, and broccoli.
Everything is going well, but now the real challenge that he faced is finding a market for hydroponic farm produce. Because this theory is very new to their locals and they dont have much awareness in his small place even though they are popular in Bangalore and Chennai.
So he is unsure whether his small startup will succeed or not. So he slowly started sending his supply to the market, supermarket, and residential neighborhood.
Success of Hydroponics Farming
Finally, after many struggles, people in Tirupati started accepting the shift by including them in their portion of healthy meals, and like that, the veggies grown on the farm are available in the supermarkets and provided door delivery within the city.
Today, Sandeep earns Rs. 54000 per month by selling veggies, in markets, supermarkets, and residential neighborhoods without middlemen. He is also planning to produce his veggies in tier-1 cities like Chennai, Bangalore, and Hyderabad.
Now, not only he is earning money through hydroponic farming, but he also become the source of the knowledge-sharing center for students who are interested in farming by providing visits to his farm and teaching those hydroponic farming techniques to students.
About Hydroponics Farming in Sandeep Words
Sandeep says “ Unlike traditional farming practices, hydroponic farming involves soil-less cultivation that allows the farmer to get a high yield on their investments.
After sowing a seed in net cups, the plants will be allowed to grow in a man-made environment, for 45 to 60 days. Then plants will be ready for harvest. Hydroponic farm produce is different from organic farming in quality and quantity.
In organic farming, farmers tend to use, hydrogen peroxide, and neem oil to kill pests, but in hydroponics farming, the percentage of pests will be less as they do not use soil for their farming.
Also, vegetables grown in this type of farming, are rich in fiber, and nutrients, compared to the products cultivated through organic farming. We can do this farming with less cost but gives good nutrients”.
Finally, he says: “ It makes me very proud as a son of a farmer, I was able to achieve success in this field”.
Final Outcomes
Hope that the success story of Andra Pradesh resident, Sandeep Kannan has inspired you a lot. Most of them have many dreams but they end with some 10 to 6 jobs. But Sandeep Kannan has proved that we will succeed in life if we think in a better way.
And he proved that no work is small when we have great thoughts. Got Inspired!! Then check many other inspiring stories of amazing people who are impacting the world in a positive way.
Many stories like a Bihar woman who quits her Government Job For YouTube and many others, check out our versionweekly.com website.