Hyderabad-based Kheyti looks forward to reach underserved communities in India

Hyderabad-based ‘Kheyti’, is among the five startups that have been announced as winners of Earthshot Prize, founded by Britain’s Prince William

Hyderabad: Hyderabad-based ‘Kheyti’, is among the five startups that have been announced as winners of Earthshot Prize, founded by Britain’s Prince William and dubbed the ‘Eco Oscars’.

Kheyti, founded by Kaushik Kappagantulu, Satya Mokkapati, Ayush Sharma and Saumya, has developed a ‘Greenhouse-in-a-Box’, which helps farmers protect their crops from extreme weather and pests. The model uses 90 per cent less water, grows seven times more food and gives farmers a steady dependable income.

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Speaking to ‘Telangana Today‘, one of the co-founders of the company, Satya Mokkapati, said the team is extremely grateful for the international recognition and is looking forward to the exponential growth of climate smart farming in the country.

“This will hopefully be the catalytic moment in the journey of ‘Kheyti’ where the work we started will reach millions of farmers and the most underserved communities and also inspire the governments in India and other places to look at climate smart farming more seriously,” he said.

Kheyti was started in Hyderabad in 2015. The first greenhouse was installed in 2017 in Siddipet. The company later rolled out in Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Orissa.

Greenhouse technologies were initially used to grow exotic vegetables and used by elite farmers. However, Satya stated that the company always aimed to create climate resilient incomes and started climate smart farming by growing regular vegetables and fruits, which were consumed by the masses in India.

“The real success is not when somebody from Boston claps, it’s when somebody in the remotest village in Bihar is able to get benefitted by the greenhouse,” Satya concluded.