Woman biotechnologist turns saline barren land into hydroponic farm, earns Rs 15 lakh per acre

When most farmers look at saline, waterlogged land prone to extreme heat and cold, they see risk. Sona Mishra saw an opportunity. A trained biotechnologist, Sona has converted non-fertile, highly saline land in Bathain Khurd Village in Mathura, Uttar Pradesh, into a scientifically designed hydroponic farm. Exotic vegetables from the farm generate over Rs 15 lakh per acre annually, with a 50 per cent profit margin.  

Sona completed her MSc in Biotechnology in 2009 and worked in plant, animal and environmental research at Gautam Buddha University in Greater Noida from 2012 to 2015. Though trained in biotechnology, she was always drawn to agriculture.

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“I wanted to work on environmentally sustainable solutions. With climate change intensifying, I began thinking about how barren land could be brought into productive use,” Sona tells 30Stades.

“Protected farming was the answer because it protects crops from unpredictable weather while allowing control over nutrients and growth conditions,” she adds.

The rooftop experiment

Under protected farming, Sona chose hydroponics. Unlike soil-based farming, hydroponic plants are grown in a nutrient-rich, water-based solution, with or without a passive medium, such as gravel, sand, or cocopeat, for root support.

“Hydroponics is not about replacing soil. It is about bypassing soil limitations,” she says.

In 2019, she began her experiment on a 2,000 sq ft rooftop setup in Noida, where she grew exotic vegetables. “For two years, I experimented with production techniques, nutrient combinations, and yield optimisation to get the best quality products,” she recalls.

Also Read: How this MBA farmer earns Rs 11 lakh per acre by growing flowers and cucumber in polyhouses

The vegetables, including lettuce varieties, exotic herbs, and cherry tomatoes, were harvested for personal use. Her friends and family gave positive feedback, highlighting superior taste and quality. “That validation pushed me to scale up,” she says.

Converting a defunct polyhouse into a profitable hydroponic unit

In 2021, she leased a non-functional polyhouse in Sector 135, Noida. With an investment of Rs 15 lakh, she converted it into a fully automated hydroponic farm and her startup, NutriLeafz, was born.

In hydroponics, nutrients are delivered through a mineral solution. “The system included automated nutrient dosing, controlled irrigation cycles, fogging systems, substrate-based root support and high-tech monitoring software,” Sona says.

Also Read: Kerala brothers build one of India’s largest hydroponic lettuce farms; export to Dubai and Qatar

The half-acre NCR unit supplied exotic vegetables, such as broccoli, lettuce, coloured bell peppers, zucchini, cherry tomatoes and herbs, directly to premium residential societies and through its website. 

The annual turnover touched Rs 7 to 8 lakh. But the real transformation came a year later.

How hydroponic farming is done in saline land

In 2022, Sona acquired three acres of land in Bathain Khurd, Mathura, an area known for high soil salinity, low-lying, waterlogged terrain and extreme summer heat and winter cold. “Conventional farming was impossible here. So we could buy it at low rates,” the agripreneur says.

Today, those three acres are under hydroponic cultivation under her company, Nutrileafz, where she serves as the founder and director. The solution to the salinity problem was simple but scientific.

“I used a weed mat barrier to isolate crops from saline soil. We installed Reverse Osmosis (RO) plants to purify water for nutrient solutions, and crops are grown entirely above ground in controlled substrates,” Sona explains.

Moreover, automation ensures precise delivery of nutrients and moisture.

Yield, revenue and market strategy.

“The result is that this once agriculturally-useless land now generates a turnover of Rs 45 lakh to Rs 50 lakh a year,” she says. Explaining the economics, she says the operating cost is about Rs 7 to 8 lakh per acre annually. This includes imported seeds, fertilisers, labour and electricity charges.

Unlike traditional mandi-based sales, Nutrileafz follows a targeted premium model. It provides institutional supply through platforms like Zepto and Zomato, high-end residential vendors, and directly to consumers.

They currently avoid hotel and restaurant contracts to maintain pricing flexibility. By staying out of general vegetable mandis, the company protects margins and brand positioning. “The net margin is significant due to premium pricing of exotic vegetables and direct sales,” she says.

Also Read: How this Maharashtra engineer became a hydroponics fodder millionaire

The yields are high. For coloured bell peppers, the crop cycle is nine months, and the yield is about 18 to 20 tonnes per acre annually, while each cherry tomato plant yields around 2 kg.

Cucumber is grown in two cycles annually, with a production of 70 to 80 tonnes per year. The crop duration is three to four months. She grows four varieties of lettuce, with each plant yielding around 150 to 200 gm and harvested in 45 days.

Sona uses imported, high-quality seeds and mineral-based fertilisers. The produce is residue-free due to precise nutrient control and minimal dependence on minerals.

“From nutrient dosing to fogging, each process is automated and software-monitored. This reduces human error and ensures consistent quality,” she says.

“Hydroponics allows farming independent of soil fertility. In regions where salinity, climate stress or waterlogging make traditional agriculture unviable, controlled-environment agriculture offers a second life to land,” Sona adds.

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

Also Read: Civil services trainers take up hydroponic farming in Kerala; retail lettuce at Rs450 per kg

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