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Growers and suppliers of Zero Pesticide™ and Non-GMO vegetables and greens in 147 varieties
Pesticide residue in the food items precisely in fruits and vegetables poses high risk of gastrointestinal cancer, damage to the central nervous system, impair vision, still births, sterility and kidney damage! Do we eat food for having healthy life or miserable life? It is an enigma for the consumers to identify the pesticide free vegetables. Well the search ends at First Agro.
The company produces and supplies Zero Pesticide™ fresh produce complying with FAO/WHO’s Codex Alimentarius, the global food safety standard, for Indian domestic market. Founders Mr. KN Prasad, Mr. Nameet M and Mr. Naveen MV plan to set up 1,500 acres of pesticide free production across 16 locations in North, West and South India over the next 5-7 years. Each cluster shall be named after Indian Rivers. Their first cluster ‘Cauvery’ was operational from 2011 in the fertile ‘Cauvery Valley’ near Mysore with about 100 acres of production. Mr. Naveen MV shares the details on their farms, customize veggies grown for chef, vegetables grown first time in India and sales business unit. Excerpts:
Indian horticulture is in tight grip of excessive use of pesticide & fungicides and number of people joining agriculture also reducing. Looking at these factors we could find an opportunity to grow safe food. Besides we wanted to give access to quality rich food hence we decided on growing Zero Pesticide™ and Non-GMO vegetables and fruits. Our every farm will be spread across 100-150 acres with integrated production, pack house, cold storage and processing center. All our farms are managed and operated by us as we do not have module of contract farming.
Presently we are growing more than 147 varieties of Indian vegetables, herbs, lettuce and exotics. It is mix of open and protected cultivation. Our open-field soil based productivity is actually more than the green house productivity in India. In another 6 months we shall have another farm in northern Karnataka and Maharashtra to grow vegetables, fruits subsequently pulses and grains.
We have good blend of Indian vegetables and exotic varieties. We basically grow for domestic market therefore we produce vegetables consumed in large numbers such as okra, bottle guard, ridge guard, cabbage, coriander, spinach, carrots, methi, brinjal etc. At the same time we do address to the requirements with new evolving cuisines and veggies rich in medicinal properties. We maintain a balanced product portfolio.
To grow enormous and exceptional varieties of vegetables we have distinctive operations. Our entire production plan is elaborative and statistically planned just as in MNC manufacturing company or IT organization. We have our own seed bank of 1 million seeds. Our staff is qualified and trained professionals. The technical staff is qualified doctorates and post graduates in horticulture where as management and operation are handled by ex-army officers. They ensure discipline is maintained at work across our farms. It helps as people from different demographics work together.
We practice Integrated Pest and Disease Management (IPDM) where nature’s beneficial insects, beneficial microbes, bio-derived neem oil and garlic along with pheromone insects traps are used effectively to manage the agriculture pests. For every bad insect, there is a good (beneficial) insect, many pests such as Carrots Fly or Armyworm hate the presence of garlic and coriander as an example – we leverage the Mother Nature and its solution to balance the ecosystem.
Combination of green waste, horse, cow and chicken compost manure with beneficial microbes helps us to maintain soil’s micro-environment and fertility. 100% of First Agro’s production is drip-irrigated which uses 20 to 25% of water typically used for conventional agriculture in India. Vegetables are sold across the country. Our products are unique and never seen in the local market therefore our pricing too is independent of the market price!
We sell our Zero Pesticide™fresh farm produce through three different business units namely National Retailer, Chef-Garden and Sakura Fresh. We ship more than 50 ton fresh produce every month to national retailers like Hypercity, Big Bazaar, SPAR, Godrej Natures Basket to name a few. All products are sold under the First Agro brand name.
Our dedicated Chef-Garden business unit is headed by Nameet which addresses the unique needs of the 140 luxury and five star properties in India. At First Agro there are vegetables never grown before in our country such as 32 varieties of heirloom tomato, Peruvian hot peppers - ajirocoto, ajipanca and ajiamarillo, birds eye chili in white and black color, American slicer cucumbers, red baby mustard, red baby pokchoy and list goes on! These are grown exclusively for premium customers like Ritz-Carlton, Taj, Oberoi, Hilton, Hyatt and JW Marriott etc. The veggies are produced as per the client’s production plan. For example for Halloween festival, we grew special variety pumpkin (not grown in India). Its’ entire production plan was 32000 pumpkins that started in July. We grow special heart shaped cucumber for Valentine’s Day every year.
The third unit is our ecommerce unit Sakura Fresh which operates as of now in Bangalore (https://www.sakurafresh.com/). Sakura Fresh is the direct ‘Farm to Home’ delivery in Bangalore. We are delivering vegetables in 70%-80% of Bangalore city limits. Apart from the regular Indian vegetables here customers can find exotic varieties too such as Dandelion root used in salad preparation, is effective for cancer treatment, lettuce, wild rocket, different cherry tomatoes and so on. Consumers are assured of First Agro products are not exposed to unsafe levels of hazardous and toxic materials. Eat well and stay healthy!
(As told to Shweta Dhanuka)
Contact details-
First Agro Tech Produce (P) Ltd.,
Survey No: 352/2 and 145/2, T.Bettahalli Village,
Talkad Hobli, T.Narsipur Taluk, Mysore District,
Karnataka, India
Email: info@firstagro.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/firstagro
Web: http://www.firstagro.com/
Pesticide residue in the food items precisely in fruits and vegetables poses high risk of gastrointestinal cancer, damage to the central nervous system, impair vision, still births, sterility and kidney damage! Do we eat food for having healthy life or miserable life? It is an enigma for the consumers to identify the pesticide free vegetables. Well the search ends at First Agro.
The company produces and supplies Zero Pesticide™ fresh produce complying with FAO/WHO’s Codex Alimentarius, the global food safety standard, for Indian domestic market. Founders Mr. KN Prasad, Mr. Nameet M and Mr. Naveen MV plan to set up 1,500 acres of pesticide free production across 16 locations in North, West and South India over the next 5-7 years. Each cluster shall be named after Indian Rivers. Their first cluster ‘Cauvery’ was operational from 2011 in the fertile ‘Cauvery Valley’ near Mysore with about 100 acres of production. Mr. Naveen MV shares the details on their farms, customize veggies grown for chef, vegetables grown first time in India and sales business unit. Excerpts:
Indian horticulture is in tight grip of excessive use of pesticide & fungicides and number of people joining agriculture also reducing. Looking at these factors we could find an opportunity to grow safe food. Besides we wanted to give access to quality rich food hence we decided on growing Zero Pesticide™ and Non-GMO vegetables and fruits. Our every farm will be spread across 100-150 acres with integrated production, pack house, cold storage and processing center. All our farms are managed and operated by us as we do not have module of contract farming.
Presently we are growing more than 147 varieties of Indian vegetables, herbs, lettuce and exotics. It is mix of open and protected cultivation. Our open-field soil based productivity is actually more than the green house productivity in India. In another 6 months we shall have another farm in northern Karnataka and Maharashtra to grow vegetables, fruits subsequently pulses and grains.
We have good blend of Indian vegetables and exotic varieties. We basically grow for domestic market therefore we produce vegetables consumed in large numbers such as okra, bottle guard, ridge guard, cabbage, coriander, spinach, carrots, methi, brinjal etc. At the same time we do address to the requirements with new evolving cuisines and veggies rich in medicinal properties. We maintain a balanced product portfolio.
To grow enormous and exceptional varieties of vegetables we have distinctive operations. Our entire production plan is elaborative and statistically planned just as in MNC manufacturing company or IT organization. We have our own seed bank of 1 million seeds. Our staff is qualified and trained professionals. The technical staff is qualified doctorates and post graduates in horticulture where as management and operation are handled by ex-army officers. They ensure discipline is maintained at work across our farms. It helps as people from different demographics work together.
We practice Integrated Pest and Disease Management (IPDM) where nature’s beneficial insects, beneficial microbes, bio-derived neem oil and garlic along with pheromone insects traps are used effectively to manage the agriculture pests. For every bad insect, there is a good (beneficial) insect, many pests such as Carrots Fly or Armyworm hate the presence of garlic and coriander as an example – we leverage the Mother Nature and its solution to balance the ecosystem.
Combination of green waste, horse, cow and chicken compost manure with beneficial microbes helps us to maintain soil’s micro-environment and fertility. 100% of First Agro’s production is drip-irrigated which uses 20 to 25% of water typically used for conventional agriculture in India. Vegetables are sold across the country. Our products are unique and never seen in the local market therefore our pricing too is independent of the market price!
We sell our Zero Pesticide™fresh farm produce through three different business units namely National Retailer, Chef-Garden and Sakura Fresh. We ship more than 50 ton fresh produce every month to national retailers like Hypercity, Big Bazaar, SPAR, Godrej Natures Basket to name a few. All products are sold under the First Agro brand name.
Our dedicated Chef-Garden business unit is headed by Nameet which addresses the unique needs of the 140 luxury and five star properties in India. At First Agro there are vegetables never grown before in our country such as 32 varieties of heirloom tomato, Peruvian hot peppers - ajirocoto, ajipanca and ajiamarillo, birds eye chili in white and black color, American slicer cucumbers, red baby mustard, red baby pokchoy and list goes on! These are grown exclusively for premium customers like Ritz-Carlton, Taj, Oberoi, Hilton, Hyatt and JW Marriott etc. The veggies are produced as per the client’s production plan. For example for Halloween festival, we grew special variety pumpkin (not grown in India). Its’ entire production plan was 32000 pumpkins that started in July. We grow special heart shaped cucumber for Valentine’s Day every year.
The third unit is our ecommerce unit Sakura Fresh which operates as of now in Bangalore (https://www.sakurafresh.com/). Sakura Fresh is the direct ‘Farm to Home’ delivery in Bangalore. We are delivering vegetables in 70%-80% of Bangalore city limits. Apart from the regular Indian vegetables here customers can find exotic varieties too such as Dandelion root used in salad preparation, is effective for cancer treatment, lettuce, wild rocket, different cherry tomatoes and so on. Consumers are assured of First Agro products are not exposed to unsafe levels of hazardous and toxic materials. Eat well and stay healthy!
(As told to Shweta Dhanuka)
Contact details-
First Agro Tech Produce (P) Ltd.,
Survey No: 352/2 and 145/2, T.Bettahalli Village,
Talkad Hobli, T.Narsipur Taluk, Mysore District,
Karnataka, India
Email: info@firstagro.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/firstagro
Web: http://www.firstagro.com/
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