Hyderabad: At a time when several software engineers are quitting their jobs and choosing farming as a full-time profession, a young couple from Hyderabad has managed to build a hitch farm in 10 acres of land after quitting their jobs in New Zealand. Sachin Darbarwar and Swetha were both working as software engineers who had experience working with numerous MNCs in New Zealand. But after 18 years of working in MNCs, the duo decided to quit their lucrative jobs and return to India to try and turn farming into a profitable venture instead by using their technical know-how.
Putting their years of experience to good use, the couple started farming in 10 acres of land at Shameerpet in Hyderabad.
The former software engineers have since been farming nearly 150 varieties of vegetables and supplying them to local supermarkets and hotels with the branding of ‘Simply Fresh.’
“We worked in New Zealand for 18 years but couldn’t find true happiness. That’s when we decided to come back to India and do something here. That when the ‘Simply Fresh’ idea came out,” Sachin Darbarwar told News18.
“We started this farm in 2013 with about 10 acres of farming land. When we wanted to start this farming venture we had many doubts about commercial breakeven. Today we successfully supply 8,000 Kg vegetables every day from farm to across the city. We meticulously profile each of our plants, from day zero to harvest, and understand their nutritional requirements under various climatic conditions,” he added.
“It was in 2017-18 when we started getting huge returns from the farm. Then we started another farm near Siddipet at Arjunapatla in Telangana. We raised Rs 2 million and expanded our farming activity from 10 acres to 150 acres. Each day both the farms can produce over 2 million kg of vegetables every year. We grow our plants in AI-controlled automatic greenhouses that can adjust accordingly outside weather conditions,” Swetha told News18.
Sachin and Swetha started this farm-to-fork venture based on a concept called ‘Talking to Plants’. In this setup, every stage of a plant’s growth is monitored, nutrient supply recorded and the environment around it controlled. The two farmers have employed superior technology to make the novel farm possible with the aim of providing nutritious food that’s free of chemicals and pesticides.