Man turns three-storey building into organic farm in northern India
by Komal KashyapAn inspiring story has emerged of a man turning his three-storey building into an organic farm in northern India’s Uttar Pradesh.
He started his organic farming journey in the Bareilly district in 2016.
Visuals showed his building wrapped with the plants which he grew on his balconies and top two floors. He walked around his plants, attending to them.
Speaking to Newslions, Ramveer Singh said that he got the idea of growing organic vegetables after he heard about his friend’s father, who was diagnosed with cancer. One possible reason, he heard, was the intake of chemical-laden vegetables. He was working as a journalist at that time.
During his journey, he faced a lot of difficulties including people making fun of him. Ramveer knew that people were unaware of the advantages of organic farming so he went to different places to spread awareness about the same.
When asked about the question of growing vegetables with soil, he said that nutrition is the main thing a plant requires to grow. Soil is just a medium through which roots give nutrients to the different parts of the plants. If the roots of the plants are given required nutrients, they don’t need soil to grow.
“The system designed using PVC pipes circulates water with the help of gravity. The arrangement ensures that about 16 nutrients — such as magnesium, copper, phosphorus, nitrogen, zinc and others — are distributed equally to each plant,” he added.
Speaking about the structuring of his house, he said that in the basement, he has water storage. His office is on the ground floor followed by the first floor where he lives with his family. The top two floors are used for the plantation of organic vegetables.
An interesting fact about his house is that all the electricity that is used in the building is produced by the 12-kilowatt solar panel that Ramveer has set up on his terrace. He does not get electricity from anywhere else but it is solely produced in his own house.
Ramveer said that he sells his products to the clubs that he has formed. The clubs comprises of people from nearby colonies. Some of his products are also used in the resort that he owns. The resort is named B.R. Farm Resort, which is located on the Delhi Lucknow highway.
He said that the prices of organic vegetables are costlier than the pesticide ones as it requires more effort and special products. Sometimes the prices are double. He has invested about 15-18 lakhs (USD 18368.01- 22041.61) in the whole house setup.
He is assisted by his wife, son and two helpers in the house. Extreme weather also plays a challenging role.
Talking about his future plans, he said that he wishes to expand his export business and make people more aware about the importance of eating organic food.