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Friday, March 29 2024
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You name the vegetables, we grow it here: Vishvanath Shetty

vishwanath shetty and family
Photo Credit : News Karnataka

Meet 44-year-old Vishvanath Shetty, a native of Belapu in Kaup, who has turned his balcony on his second-floor apartment in Dubai into a beautiful and lush organic garden. Being from an agricultural background, Shetty had a natural inclination to start his own organic farm.

He was born and raised in Mumbai where he did his mid-schooling. Later he moved to his native place to complete his higher studies. Speaking to NewsKarnataka he said, “Before moving to Bengaluru to pursue my MBA and look for a job, I completed my schooling at Poorna Prajna Pre-University College in Udupi and my graduate studies at Poorna Prajna College. I began my professional career in a BPO at a firm named Convergys.”

In 2013, Shetty moved to Dubai. “I experienced the same difficulties as any immigrant who is visiting Dubai for the first time. At the time, I was unemployed. Then I got a job with a company with headquarters in Dubai. I worked there for more than two years before switching to a different media company. I have been running a logistics news platform for the last three years. Arya Consultancy Services is a business that I founded a year ago,” he said.

vishwanath shetty organic garden

Speaking about his motivation to grow an organic garden of his own, he said, “I come from an agricultural background. I always wanted to start my own organic farming someday.”

Shetty and his family reside in a place called Al-Furjan District which comes in between the Expo village which is newly formed and mainland Dubai. Over the past two to three years, the area has undergone major development. “We moved into this flat two years ago. We came and noticed the attractive L-shaped balcony. It was a perfect place for me to do what I have always wanted to do, farming. We started planting vegetables, and flower plants once we moved in. It’s been going well for the last two years. Every time I leave my room to the balcony, it brings back memories of my home.”

He said that they grow all of their vegetables rather than purchasing them and don’t use any fertilisers. “It is all organic. We use organic manure. When we bring the plants from the nursery, we only use that once. We gradually withdrew the manure from these plants and switched to using our organic manure, which is made from kitchen waste. We preserve the kitchen waste in a container and add mud to it and after a month it will make a good manure mix. The vegetables that we grow are well-sufficient and sustainable for us,” he added.

When asked about how he managed to grow vegetables and plants during the extreme climate, he explained that it takes a lot of attention to taking care of them. “Due to the temperature change, you must take such good care of them for them to grow. One section of my L-shaped garden gets little sunshine. We have kept vegetables there. Since we have water service, the plants will be watered once every two hours during the summer.” He said that he doesn’t mind spending extra money for the same. “We also water them manually during summer.”

vishwanath shetty organic garden

Shetty mentioned that initially, he had grown 10 to 12 varieties of vegetables. “It was done purely as a test to see if it would work or not. Gradually, we found that our weekly yield is around 5 to 6 kgs. In the small area, we grow a variety of crops, including tomatoes, potatoes, okra, lemons, pineapples, watermelons, eggplants and so on. You name the vegetable, we grow it here on our balcony.

He said that his family and friends have been really supportive. “My wife, Spandana Hegde, who is highly interested in organic farming, is the one who inspired me to start doing it. I keep travelling due to a job, and it is my wife takes care of the plants. I teach my 8-year-old son Shaurya Shetty about how farming was done in during our days, and we make sure he understands the value of growing vegetables and living sustainably.”

Shetty is of the opinion that everyone is aware that global warming is a real threat, yet few people are doing something about it. We hold the government responsible for not acting and not doing enough. “Instead, we should think about what we are doing. It is important to keep a clean and sustainable environment. Grow plants, maintain a suitable environment, and take the initiative to grow your own plants and vegetables. Grow plants, maintain a cool environment, and take the initiative to cultivate your own plants and vegetables nearby. Even though we live in a small area, we nonetheless work to make our surroundings green. The world will be a better place if everyone starts doing this.”

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Reshma B.

Reshma Babu, a young Postgraduate in Mass Communication and Journalism from St. Aloysius College, Mangalore University, utilises her considerable learned journalistic knowledge and inherent story writing and sub-editing abilities to add value to the company’s media brands and the editorial team. All dimensions of human interaction are her prime focus.

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