PUNE: Kashmir saffron is one of the world’s most expensive spices, which requires a lot of patience and care to grow. Although it is a brand for the valley farmers now slowly Maharastra Farmers are also developing it through Hi-Tech technology.
Sailesh Modak, a software engineer turned enthusiast farmer from Pune city earns lakhs by doing Kashmir saffron farming in the shipping container.
Sailesh said that he had invested 10 lakh as a one-time investment and earned 5 lakh from the first crop. For saffron farming, he brought seeds from Kashmir and by using Aeroponic technology he grew the crop in just 160 sq feet area.
For farming, Modak uses various hi-tech devices to make a suitable environment for crops in the container which is currently placed in the Warje area of Pune city.
Modak is a Master’s in Computer science and has worked with various multinational companies as a software engineer now he is running a farming start-up named as 365Dfarms.
The promoter of the start-up, saffron was grown with the help of premium quality crocus corms/bulbs procured from Pampore in Kashmir.
Modak further added that he used the aeroponics method to grow the beautiful saffron flowers, and the product is the same as in the valley.
The Aeroponics farming he uses in his container is a method of growing plants without soil. Instead, roots are suspended in the air and rinsed with a nutrient-dense mist.
Earlier Sailesh modak had grown leafy vegetables using the Hydroponic method where plant roots are regularly submerged in a nutrient-rich solution in the same shipping container. (ANI)