Agri startups drive healthy eating revolution in Mangaluru

Time of India

10-05-2025

Mangaluru: The agri-startups in the coastal district are helping individuals who are embracing healthy eating, where food is clean from pesticides and other chemicals. With the introduction of healthy fresh veggies, there is an increasing trend in healthy eating, and it is revolutionising the startup farming sector.Take the example of Green Monkey Farms—a homegrown venture started by two passionate entrepreneurs from a commerce background, now redefining the way Mangaluru consumes fresh greens.
Specialising in
hydroponically grown organic vegetables
, it carved a niche for itself. Their range includes kale, microgreens, baby spinach, baby arugula, Italian basil, and a few other carefully selected greens. What sets them apart is not just the produce, but the years of research and development they invested to adapt hydroponic farming techniques to suit the Mangaluru climate.The journey began with Vijwal Vas, who trained in hydroponics for two years in Dharwad and later worked as head grower at a prominent hydroponic farm in Bengaluru.
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He started small—right in his backyard—and gradually expanded operations to a larger, modern facility in Paldane. He was later joined by Rohan Raj. "We started without knowing how Mangalureans would respond," said Vijwal. "But over the years, we found great support—especially as more people are including fresh vegetables like kale and microgreens in their daily diets," he said.In fact, most of their regular customers are above 40 years of age—a group that truly understands the value of eating right. Mangalureans found creative ways to include them in everyday meals and snacks.The reach of healthy eating goes beyond households. Local cafés and restaurants are also embracing such produce in their menus, adding them to salads, smoothies, toasts, burgers, and others.Another startup,
Krop AI
, pioneered indoor vertical farming, achieving zero-pesticide, zero-chemical crops at 40 times the yield per square foot.
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They provide a climate-controlled system that allows for year-round production, which allows even growing strawberries in the summer, while using 95% less water. It was started by engineers: Calvin Aranha and Farish Anfal, who recently delivered their first container farm to a hotel in Mangaluru.
The farm will be growing the hotel's entire leafy greens and vegetable requirements. That's about 25+ varieties grown using 90% less water, producing chemical and pesticide-free produce in the city limits. All this is managed by AI software.Some individuals produce microgreens and others at their homes for personal consumption.