Hyderabad's urban farmer grows wheatgrass over 500 sq ft; clocks Rs2 lakh monthly turnover

Mogolla Janardhan Goud was satisfied running a playschool in Hyderabad, Telangana, before the Coronavirus struck in 2020. From 2014 to 2020, he had a steady income from the playschool.  However, after the COVID lockdown was announced in March 2020, Janardhan did not receive any fee the next month.

“At that time, to meet my family expenses, I had to start something that could be done indoors and had a good market demand. My search on the internet took me to indoor farming of wheatgrass, which was gaining popularity due to its immunity-boosting properties,” Janardhan tells 30Stades.

Wheatgrass is the young, tender shoot of the wheat plant. Known for its nutritional value, wheatgrass contains vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. Wheatgrass juice is also gluten-free because it is harvested before the wheat seeds form. 

The global wheatgrass products market, valued at 196.8 million dollars in 2024, is projected to reach 246.5 million dollars by 2030, driven by rising health awareness and demand for superfoods, as per MarketResearch.com, a global research firm. 

The harvested wheatgrass can be juiced, added to smoothies, or used as an ingredient in other dishes. Dried wheatgrass powder is also in high demand. 

Also Read: Chennai’s urban farmer sets up low-cost microgreens unit; earns Rs 1 lakh monthly from 300 sq ft

The economics of wheatgrass farming

With no prior experience in farming, Janardhan started in a 150 sq ft space on his rooftop in July 2020. “I invested around Rs2 lakh in putting up the basic infrastructure – greenhouse shade nets, trays and iron racks to hold them, wheat seeds, and labour costs, etc,” the urban farmer says.

The vertical farming setup included seven layers.  “Each layer was 20 ft in length and 4 ft in width and could hold 40 trays. So I had 280 trays in seven layers, costing Rs 42,000 (Rs150 per tray). The iron racks also cost me around Rs45,000 apart from greenhouse nets, organic wheat seeds, etc,” he says.

Since the sowing to harvesting cycle lasts seven days, a layer is ready for harvest daily, bringing steady income.

Janardhan ordered organic seeds of Sehore Sharbati, a premium variety of wheat grown in the Sehore region of Madhya Pradesh. “Sehore Sharbati wheat is known for its golden colour, sweetness, and high protein content. I continue to use this variety even now,” he adds.

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“The production in my first attempt was good. I harvested 1 kg of wheatgrass every day. My neighbours and parents of my school students were the first buyers. I sold 50 gm of wheatgrass for Rs 50 at that time. The demand began to increase rapidly, and there has been no looking back,” he recollects.

Today, Janardhan practices organic farming of wheatgrass over 500 sq ft in vertical racks, harvesting 15kg daily, depending on the weather. “In summer, the output goes down and increases during winter,” he says.

He now sells wheatgrass to supermarkets and neighbourhood stores at Rs600 per kg wholesale.  “I recently started preparing wheatgrass powder. It is available online at Rs450 for 90 gm,” Janardhan says.

He says the average monthly turnover is Rs2 lakh and he makes a profit of Rs1 lakh after meeting the expenses.

The process of wheatgrass farming

The farming process starts with soaking wheat seeds in water for sprouting. The sprouts are then planted in a growing medium, such as soil, coconut coir or cocopeat.

“I use cocopeat as it reduces the chances of contamination,” says Janardhan.

The seeds are kept moist and warm, allowing them to sprout and develop into young shoots. Wheatgrass is typically harvested when the shoots are four to six inches tall, about seven to ten days after sprouting. “It takes seven days from sowing to harvesting,” he points out.

“I grow them in seven racks stacked vertically (vertical farming). As a result, one level is ready for harvest daily,” he says. After the grass is cut, the cocopeat is removed and new medium and new seeds are added to the tray for the fresh batch. 

“For self-consumption, you can easily grow wheatgrass at home even in soil because the scale is small,” he says.

Currently, Janardhan is not using an air-conditioned setup, resulting in seasonal ups and downs. “I am planning to go for air conditioning so that the output can be higher and more consistent. I want to focus on making wheatgrass powder due to longer shelf life and higher demand,” he says.

His advice to those planning to start wheatgrass farming is to find customers nearby. “Don’t go to dealers. You must try to source all equipment and cocopeat from local vendors to minimise transportation costs. And always use organic seeds only,” Janardhan suggests.

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

Also Read: This man quit his high-paying MNC job to grow microgreens; clocks Rs12 lakh monthly turnover

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