The spotlight over the past year-and-a-half has been on the city's health consciousness. Microgreens which are fast emerging as nutritional value- adds. While microgreens are easy to grow at home, for some like Yamini Yagnamurthy, they've also grown into a business this past year.
Yagnamurthy's Stomato Farms was started on the terrace of her home and has now expanded into a climate-controlled laboratory where everything form red cabbage, basil and all kinds of radish is grown to cater the demands of her increasing customer base. "You just need good quality seeds, the right soil mix, a few trays, water and light. It takes a little dedication and precision to nurture them," she said.
Another microgreen grower and a social worker Vidhyadharan Narayan, launched his microgreen business a few years ago. The 65-year old says that earlier on his customers were hotels, cafes and food bloggers. The pandemic has brought him a good flow of individual subsribers. "Most of them are young and health-conscious," he said. Vidhyadharan harvests Sakhi microgreens from a 100 sq. ft. space in his house, earning 25,000 Indian Rupee (340 USD) a month.
"Microgreens and sprouts pack a nutritional punch," says Subramanian K. S., director, research, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University. "When a seed germinates, it needs energy. During this initial burst of growth, the seed puts all its nutrients and energy into the developing seedling. Proteins are broken down into amino acids, fats into fatty acids and carbohydrates into simple sugar."
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