If you happen to pass by the quaint village of Manai in Jodhpur, there is a stop you shouldn’t miss.

MharoKhet — an experiential farm — has also been growing and supplying fresh produce all around Jodhpur for four years now.

Rajnush and Vedika Agarwal, the duo behind this initiative, took a leap of faith and decided to turn their 30-year-old ancestral land into a ‘farm-to-table’ experience after a trip to Kyoto, Japan.

Rajnush, an engineer who has been managing his family business for years, says, “The vegetables grown in Kyoto were famous all across Japan, simply for their freshness.” “Could we replicate the Kyoto model on our ancestral land, where we had been cultivating tomatoes and other vegetables for daily consumption for the last 12 years?” he wondered.

And so the couple decided to sell the produce grown on their farm to people in and around Jodhpur with a promise — “everything you order will be delivered to your doorstep within four hours of harvest”.

Today, guests pour into MharoKhet’s 40-acre premises every day — some to get a tour of the farm and others to get their share of the fresh produce.

Drip irrigation on the farm saves 60 percent of water compared to traditional methods.

But Rajnush wanted to give people a taste of something they had never had before, so the couple decided to venture into the space of exotic vegetables. The first vegetable they tried to grow was broccoli.

Through the years they perfected their techniques and the fruits of these endeavours can be seen across MharoKhet — fields abundant in chamomile, cherry tomatoes, oyster mushrooms, fresh oregano, sage, kohlrabi, black carrots, golden beetroots, kale, iceberg lettuce etc, fresh jalapenos, etc.

“We have a system called BYOT (Bring Your Own Tokri), wherein the produce harvested on the two days of the week is packed into paper bags and baskets, and delivered to doorsteps within four hours,” says Rajnush.

Along with homes and restaurants, the produce of MharoKhet is also a hit among pastry chefs, confectioneries, and bakeries. Elaborating on the experiential visit, he says it is divided into two parts — the tour of the farm and the dining experience.

The former lasts for around two hours — guests are taken around the farm, shown the different crops, explained the process of making biopesticides, shown the composting pit, and made to understand the concept of a zero-waste kitchen.

The latter is the feast where guests can get a taste of some fusion dishes, where local produce blends with traditional and modern recipes.

“To have city folk experience this, is what our endeavours have always been directed towards,” emphasises Rajnush.

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