Initiated as a social commitment venture, with a clear mission to contribute to a healthy , happy and productive community, Aroma fresh products will be made available to the community through our retail outlets,which will, to begin with be launched in different parts of kerala, India. We have a vision to be able to provide this privilege to as wide an area as we can and that expansion plan will
be strategized and taken forward in the best way possible. Aroma Fresh is an innovative high technology venture and is a “one of a kind” agro farming and marketing company which is GAP certified (a prominent globally accepted certification mark for good agriculture practice and sustainable and sustainable agriculture)
The company envisages a business model with values that endorse People, Planet and Profit; where Passion is the driving force to archive its zenith. Concept
• There is ample technology available globally in the farming and agriculture sector, but in Indian context those technologies seldom reaches farm level or at production level.
• Our concept is to imbibe appropriate technology available in agriculture research and implement it professionally with cutting edge techniques and innovative technology, in production and in value chain systems like handling, processing, transport and marketing of safe and healthy food
• We adopt the state- of -art technology globally available in precision farming techniques and enact with continuous in-house research with appropriate adaptation in our crop production activity
• Share and facilitate the technology we develop with our associated farming community to implement and enhance their production and thereby enabling a sustainable livelihood
• To develop a business model that address the issues of production at farm to the shelves of the customer.
• Install and develop a quality management system for safe and healthy food from production to shelf without compromising the quality and reliability
Why high technology precision farming
• Kerala has a huge gap in demand and supply of food especially vegetable and fruits
• Increasing population and development activities exert immense pressures on land , compromising the fertile agricultural land for other purpose
• Resources are getting scarce like water , labor and high input cost
• Productivity should increase from unit area to sustain
• Farming should be viable with these issues – solution is to maximize the efficiency of the resources and inputs used
• Poly houses provide a protected environment, provide inputs precisely for the crop growth precise management activities are followed resulting in high productivity
Advantages
• Maximize the efficiency of the inputs
• Precise inputs like fertilizers are applied at root zone so that the environment – soil and water is not polluted with excess chemicals applied
• Chemicals pesticides , fungicides and herbicides are not used in the production
Research and developments
We have dedicated team for continuous research in devising appropriate farming systems with innovative technology and modern techniques. Research is a continuous process in our farms on these activities
• on modern techniques in soil fertility management,
• control of pest and diseases with bio-control agents, and pollinators for pollination in controlled environment
• irrigation techniques and also with practices and techniques that were traditionally followed in crop management.
• Our objective is to incorporate cutting edge technologies developed through agricultural research into production and in value chain systems like product handling, product processing , product transport and in the marketing of these safe and healthy products. Our commitments and linkages
We have linkages for production and value addition with different groups ranging from the tribal community , farmers groups, women self help groups and corporate plantation groups. We consider this project as a social responsibility component of Aoma group of companies .
• We have linkages with farmers who do poly house farming , where we give technology support and protocols for production
• Buy back mechanism with a premium price for the zero pesticide protocol
• We have production association and buy back arrangements with farmers groups from kerala , Tamilnadu and Karnataka. The cultivation is managed with an Internal Quality management system devised by Aroma fresh and implemented by the development organizations and NGOs.
• The farmers are provided with support like input sourcing , technology support and quality systems . The products are sourced with a premium price . Certification and quality control
The production happens in strict quality control environments and systems. Aroma Fresh production units are GlobalGAP certified, a prominent globally accepted certification mark for Good Agriculture Practice and sustainable agriculture. Further, we follow a Voluntary standard stringent than GlobalGAP standard as a commitment to the society and environment by evading use of pesticides and chemicals, rainwater harvesting to replenish ground water, using sustainable production techniques and handling and other ecological parameters. The associated farmers groups adhere to the processing and handling systems according to our protocol and standards. We assure that the vegetables and fruits will reach the shelf , directly and with the freshness with just one ‘handling’ from harvest to the our retail outlet. These high quality parameters are possible with the help of a very efficient and effective internal quality management system devised and implemented by Aroma Fresh team that include professionals, farmers and other stake holders. Aroma fresh
Aroma fresh is a unique brand introduced in the food sector of the Kerala with a social cause. The food products whether it be fresh fruits and vegetables , pulses, millets , cereals, confectionaries, beverages , edible oil , it reaches the customers shelf with its freshness and a badge as ‘pesticide free’. Aroma fresh presents a wide range of food products that are cultivated in our own poly farms ,some products collected fresh from wild , all of which assure the customer a healthy food choice , an elegant life style that cherish the fullness of nature’s wealth, a tradition of taste and a sense of modern mind set. Further to the food products we also have a range of natural cosmetics, neutral soaps and cleansers, aromatic and essential oils and lifestyle articles and many more…
Product range
We shelf and promote a safe and healthy food concept without pesticides and chemicals. The choices of food stuff and range of products in our shelf support a healthy life style, reinventing our traditional food habits with richness of the nature
Fresh Vegetables and fruits : from our own polyhouses and open farm produced with precision techniques , without using pesticides and chemicals; from the polyhouses of associated farmers with Aroma Fresh technology and protocols of production, from the farms of organic certified estates at ooty surrounded by the pristine forests. From the farmers of Karnataka who have a tradition of growing fruit and vegetables naturally. From the farmers group of Trivandrum Kerala of Focus is on the seasonal tropical fruits that reach the customer from the orchards grown without any pesticides and ripening agents
Cereals and millets : a range of cereals and traditional millets that were forgotten over a period of time which is worthy as a complete food for a healthy life style
Pulses and spices: A range of spices from the landscape of southern India grown organically or without pesticides and chemicals from the farming community who consider natural farming as their life and livelihood. We provide spices in its original flavor, straight and single without blending and if necessary, processed with assured quality. Beverages : Coffee and varieties of tea grown in the traditional plantation with unique quality and taste picked by the connoisseurs and master blenders. Vegetable oils : from the oil seeds grown with our pesticides and cold pressed and packed at the processed with strict quality parameters
Collection from the wild : a range of wild collection from the tribal population like varieties of honey , chilly in brine, bamboo shoot products , bamboo rice products, etc
Life style articles : aromatic oils, natural cosmetics, neutral soaps and cleansers and many more …
PRECISION FARMING
Agriculture has been through various trials and turmoil in last few decades. From the time of green revolution the focus on enhanced production and productivity was always a means of indiscriminate use of agrochemicals and exploitation of natural resources. The growing demand of food products and diminishing resources has been a constant topic of concern for technologists and policy makers. The precision farming system as a development paradigm envisages maximizing the efficiency of resources like production inputs, manpower, energy and natural resources like land and water. Thus precision farming technology has evolved as a viable alternative to improve profitability and productivity by means of judicious management of available resources without any adverse impact on environment. Precision farming is the break-through farming system where the state-of-the-art technology is implemented for a sustainable production, by maximizing the efficiency of the resources through information based management, using appropriate technologies suitable to the production variables such as soil, water, seed, varietal characters of the crop, agrochemical inputs , climate , etc. The efficiency of the production resources are maximized by providing precise quantities of the inputs to the crops in right composition. The decisions are made based on the information compiled on variables like soil fertility status, intake of nutrients by the plants and crop growth parameter. The inputs are provided to plants in an integrated manner where all the required nutrients are provided to the root zone instead of blanket application of major nutrients in the top soil in two or three phases of the crop growth. The information technology tools like GPS systems, satellite imagery, remote data interfaces, etc are also utilized to draw inferences in the decision making process. Further to the improved efficiency of inputs, precision techniques have its advantages in environmental and ecological aspects. The efficient utilization of inputs will lead to the less wastage and pilferage of agro chemicals to the environment like streams, ground water sources, water bodies and non target vegetative area. Water has become the scarcest resource in farming activity with diminishing ground water levels and erratic rainfall pattern. Precision techniques enable the system to maximize the productivity from the unit quantity of water, thereby conserving the water resources to the communities. The precision farming techniques also plan and preserve the water harvesting programs there by recharging the ground water levels. Precision farming techniques and these principles are effective in both open farming systems and in protected systems like poly houses and glass houses. The protected environment cultivation will have an added advantage of reduced impact of environmental and climatic factors in the production process. Though the initial investment is high, this will enable precise management decisions, better control on the pest and disease management thus reducing the dependency on agro chemicals. Pest and disease control being a major concern for the farming community as well as consumers where indiscriminate uses of plant protection chemicals are prevalent. Often the maximum residue levels (MRLs) of the pesticides and agro chemicals are much higher than the permitted levels in food products, especially in fresh fruits and vegetables. Precision farming system envisages an effective and need based crop protection plan with prophylactic measures to prevent pest and disease incidences. Also an integrated pest management program is designed with minimum chemicals or with natural or biological control agents. Accurate crop management activities are followed in the precision farming where crops are provided adequate and appropriate spacing for growth, maintain balanced vegetative growth and physical environment for better performance based on the genetic characters. These management systems and techniques will eventually result in a more efficient farming system where the energy utilized is minimized for the unit area of production with maximum yield of food crops. Notwithstanding the general impression that precision farming methodologies are sought for large and extensive farming operations, contrary to the Indian context where farm operations are small and fragmented. Successful adaptation of information technology tools and knowledge based farm management systems has proved effective in integrating different farming units to follow precision farming methods. Further the planning of crops and crop calendar at various farm entities are accomplished and implemented to meet the requirements of market dynamics and crop production planning. Supply chain management and logistics are also integrated to the system for effective intervention in the market. The highlight of the precision farming techniques and its management systems is that it effectively imbibes the criteria of all major globally accepted quality assurance programs like Good Agriculture Practice (GAP) protocols, sustainability standards and fair-trade principles. This enables an effective quality assurance mechanism that influence a producer-consumer community where quality of the food is assured for a healthy society.
