MBA farmer pioneers vegetable grafting; clocks Rs50 lakh turnover

Rajeev Bhaskar, an MBA from the Symbiosis Institute of Management Studies, has set up the first grafted vegetable nursery in north India in Sehjowal village of Punjab’s Rupnagar district. After tasting success with guava farming, where he makes a profit of Rs6 lakh per acre, Rajeev decided to try vegetable grafting which results in disease-resistant plants with a longer harvest period and higher yields.

Rajeev graduated from the G B Pant University of Agriculture in Uttarakhand with a BSc. in Horticulture and then worked with Raipur-based VNR Seeds, where he became part of the sales and marketing team. While working at VNR, Rajeev completed his MBA.

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“While interacting with thousands of farmers during my career, I heard a common grievance – the soil quality in some regions like Himachal Pradesh had deteriorated. As a result, plants were prone to various diseases, leading farmers to pump in more chemicals and further reduce soil fertility,” Rajeev tells 30Stades.

How vegetable plants are grafted for high yields

Vegetable farming typically involves sowing seeds and transferring seedlings to the fields. However, grafting joins the roots of one plant and the shoot (or sapling) from the scion plant (the variety to be grown). 

Rootstock is the lower portion of the graft, taken from a strong plant, which develops a large root system that can support the upper part that yields vegetables. Shoot or the upper part is the young sapling which is joined with the strong root and is ready for planting in the fields after 15 to 18 days.

To learn more about grafting, Rajeev visited Thailand’s Kasetsart University and participated in the company's field trials. Back home, he also conducted trials at his farm in Rupnagar successfully.

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“We use rootstocks of strong and disease-resistant plants that can withstand climatic changes. They increase production and ensure the health and survival of the vegetable plants while cutting down costs of pesticides and other chemicals,” Rajeev says.

“For example, we graft (join) brinjal rootstock with tomato saplings. Since brinjal roots are stronger and have more volume, they can resist diseases and increase nutrition to the plant. The result is higher yields and good quality tomatoes.”

While non-grafted tomato saplings are planted in March and give yields till July, the grafted plants continue production till October. 

“The harvest season increases by 2.5 to three months, resulting in higher income for farmers,” he adds.

Higher root volume ensures more nutrition for the plant and improves immunity. While the average per-plant tomato yield in India is around 5 kg, grafted plants can give more than 12 kg if well maintained. 

‘Hand grafting’ success

Before starting a commercial venture, Rajeev ordered one lakh grafted vegetable plants from VNR Nursery in 2021 and distributed them for free among farmers to gauge the market. “Only about 30 percent of the farmers took care of them. They got high yields and we received an order of 50,000 grafted plants in the first year,” says Rajeev, who started Aruj Nursery in 2022.

In the next season, Aruj Nursery sold 5 lakh grafted vegetable plants including tomato, capsicum, chillies and brijal. 

“The grafting cost is Rs10 per plant and we sell it wholesale at Rs12 per plant, a profit margin of 20 percent. On a retail basis, the cost is Rs50 per grafted plant,” he says.

The wholesale rate of grafts of coloured capsicum is Rs18.50 per piece. “The seeds of coloured bell peppers are expensive, at Rs7.50 apiece. So the sapling price is higher,” he says.

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The turnover at Aruj Nursery was Rs50 lakh last season and Rajeev is targeting to increase it to Rs2 crore in the next season by selling 20 lakh grafted plants.

He has set up a greenhouse spread over 1.5 acres to control temperature, humidity and other parameters. 

The plants are grown in cocopeat as it has a high water-holding capacity and release nutrients to plant roots over time. Cocopeat also has antifungal properties and is resistant to soil diseases. 

The saplings are grown in trays and are joined with the rootstock when their stem diameter reaches a certain stage, about 1.5 to 2.5 mm for tomatoes. The plants are sold with trays in which rootstock is joined with the scion.

“Grafted vegetable plants can increase farmer incomes, reduce the use of chemicals and improve soil health. Vegetable farmers must consider using grafts to save resources and increase profits,” Rajeev says.

(Rashmi Pratap is a Mumbai-based journalist specialising in business, financial, and socio-economic reporting)

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