While growing up in Kolkata, Roopa Jos would visit her hometown in Kerala with her parents only during vacations. During those visits, she recalls that her father, who was a farming enthusiast, would collect vegetable seeds and saplings to take back home.

After marriage, when Roopa moved to Kerala, she decided to try her hands at farming. But this was more out of concern, she says.

“When I moved to Kerala, I expected that we would be able to eat fresh and clean vegetables. But within a few years, I realised that this wasn’t the case, as most of the vegetables available in the market were high on pesticides,” Roopa tells The Better India.

She started by setting up a small vegetable garden on her terrace. “When I started eating homegrown vegetables, I realised the huge difference in taste, freshness, and even health. Even the chillies I grew were tastier than those from the market,” she says, adding that this was the beginning of her agricultural journey.

Currently, Roopa has a full-fledged organic garden with fruits and vegetables on her 700 sq ft terrace and has not spared any spaces around her house, set on six cents of land. She has also set up a hydroponics unit on her terrace to grow fresh and exotic leafy vegetables. “Now we are........

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