Agrawal's Sowing Lessons

It was the experience of staying at the Dar Ahlam resort in Morocco, which served dishes made of ingredients from traditional farming methods that got Sanjeev Agrawal, Chairman and Developmental Licensee, Connaught Plaza Restaurants (which operates McDonald's restaurants in North and East India) hooked to organic farming. He invested in 2.5 acres of land at The Greens in Rajokri and started learning the technique. That was five years back. Agrawal and his team started with growing household vegetables, including carrots, potato, tomato and asparagus, and later expanded to culinary herbs such as dill, fenugreek, coriander, basil, parsley and thyme. He goes to the farm once in two weeks to check the growth and quality of the produce and the health of the livestock. "The best thing about choosing to grow my food is that I have full control of what I sow, what I reap, and what I cook," says Agrawal. In fact, he ensures he does random checks on the quality of produce sent by vendors at McDonald's to ensure the lettuce is fresh and the taste of tomatoes is sweet. He is currently exploring the option of hydroponic technology (where soil is replaced with a solution of water and nutrients) to grow the produce.