“In Iran, we see a lack of advanced agricultural methods, lack of fresh vegetables*, high chemical use and a water crisis. We want to be a part of the solution for our society,” says Mohsen Aghdam, Co-founder of Kantikesht.
*The term “fresh vegetables” meaning vegetables being received by the customer in less than 24 hours.
Co-founders Mehdi S. Aghdam and Mohsen S. Aghdam
Kantikesht is located in Tehran, Iran, was founded in 2018 and began as a small greenhouse to raise papaya, passionfruit and blueberry transplants from seed. Today, Kantikesht is a vertical farming company that is using containerized systems to bring fresh vegetables to the Iranian public. Iran has yet to adopt vertical farming on a commercial scale, leaving Kantikesht to pave the way forward. As Mohsen explains, container farming was a natural choice.
Some happy faces
“Being portable means that container farms can be installed wherever farmers have the space, incurring only a small cost for buying or renting land. We can also grow in a controlled environment all of the time and can do everything from seed to harvest with two people,” say Mohsen.
The modularity of container farms is also an interesting feature as grower can begin small and grow steadily over time.
Monitoring the produce from home
The “first vertical farming company in Iran”
Kantikesht is currently focusing on lettuce production and is making final improvements to its cultivation system before beginning to offer its products directly to customers. Although the farming company is growing in a single container farm at the moment, Kantikesht aspires to become the largest container farming company in the Middle East.
“Our vertical farming system offers multiple benefits to farmers in our regions such as the low cost of buying and renting land, low labor costs, low water and no chemical usage, and higher yields than conventional systems. We hope that farmers begin to use new cultivation techniques to save the environment and provide healthy food,” says Mohsen.
In its preliminary cycles, Kantikesht has increased its production capacity from 2.176 to 4.224 heads of lettuce per month. The company is looking forward to bringing its products to consumers and expanding its farm.
For more information:
Mohsen Aghdam, Co-founder
+98 912 2118 171
[email protected]
Kantikesht
Company information