Basaiah Hiremath : The Moringa Man of India #27

In this episode of the Indian Community Podcast, hosts Amit Gupta and Rahul Mehra welcome Mr. Basaiah Hiremath, famously known as The Moringa Man of India. With an impressive IT career behind him, Basaiah shifted his focus to agriculture, founding Nandi Organic Farmhouse, and becoming a pioneer in organic Moringa cultivation. He discusses his transition from IT to farming, the health benefits of Moringa, how it's perceived in different regions, and the innovative Moringa-based health supplements and products developed under Nandi Organic. The podcast delves into the challenges of organic farming, Basaiah's motives for this significant career pivot, and his vision for the future of Moringa farming and its global impact.

Transcript

amit-gupta_1_04-23-2024_131324: 0:00

Welcome to the another episode of the Indian Community Podcast. I'm your host Amit Gupta with my co host Rahul Mehra. Today we're thrilled to have a very special guest with us, Mr. Basaiah Hiremath. I call him The Moringa Man of India. He has a remarkable career spanning over 25 years in information technology. Mr Basaiah has been instrumental in setting up and managing IT operations for award winning companies such as Saba and Metric Stream. Transitioning from his illustrious career in IT, Mr. Basaiah took a bold step into agriculture, founding the Nandi Organic Farmhouse. Under his visionary leadership, Nandi Organic has not only flourished but has also brought Mr. Basaiah numerous accolades, including the prestigious India's Best Startup of the Year 2022 and the IIB Pride of India Award. And many more. Today he's celebrated for pioneering work in the cultivation of organic Moringa and his innovative approach to developing health supplements from this miraculous tree. Join us as we dive into Mr. Basaiah's journey from the high tech world of cloud computing to the green fields of organic farming, how he earned his title as the Moringa man of India and what inspires him to keep innovating. Mr. Basaiah. to the Indian Community Podcast.

rahul-mehra_1_04-23-2024_224324: 1:40

Welcome to the show, sir. Welcome,

basaiah-hiremath_1_04-23-2024_224324: 1:41

you. Thank you, Amit and Rahul. Thank you very much for the opportunity given to share my experience.

amit-gupta_1_04-23-2024_131324: 1:49

Absolutely.

rahul-mehra_1_04-23-2024_224324: 1:53

Mr. Basaiah my first question is that you have had a highly successful career in IT managing complex cloud operations for major companies. What inspired you to make the significant shift from the world of IT to starting an organic farm focusing on Moringa?

basaiah-hiremath_1_04-23-2024_224324: 2:09

It's a very you know, significant question. It takes back into the 2000. So I was started career with Infosys and I placed in Seattle for system integration for the IT job. When I came first time to Seattle, that was a Friday evening as usual in US Friday when Eng, it guys comes to us they start driving the car and going weekend to somewhere else. Unfortunately, that day, nobody was there in my apartment. I reached apartment and I thought that as a, you know, rural person coming to us. I thought I let me search my native in the U. S. as it is the internet is very good in U. S. in 2000 time. So when I start searching my native, I found that my native place in the UNICEF and WHO report where it is famous for malnutrition. and poverty. I was felt so bad that, you know, even though I'm from rural area, I'm the first few people from North Karnataka selected in Infosys. And I find that, yeah, man, I came to Us but what about my native? I left my native. And I looked at the report. It was malnutrition was too high in my district. Which is the world's toppest. Something was happened and I can't express. But I thought that I should do something back to my native. Maybe not now, maybe in the future. So that I can come up with a solution where I can serve my native. That's a, you know, made me to thought through you know, how I can move from IT to agriculture. Which is, you know, solve my problems of my native. Always innovation, I believe that it comes from the necessity of the problems. So all the problems will drive the innovative innovation. So then I started studying about back end, working with IT. Like what I can solve the problem, how I can solve the problem. What I can do it from my native. What are my, you know, focus area should be next after 2025 years. So that I can give back to society. I give back to my people. Maybe I need to earn first a money which can serve myself and then I can make a sustainable, you know, kind of an environment create to give back to the society. This is what it made me that even though what introduction was given by Amitji that he worked on cloud and all those things, definitely IT is a ocean of innovations. If you apply those innovations in 1997, 98. Dr. Abdul Kalamji came to Infosys and he said one word, when the information technology holds the hands of agriculture, even the agriculture of India can also flourish like an IT. That was connecting with my 2000 event. That's a bridging, you know, connectivity that which trigger me a lot to do a research on fixing the problem of malnutrition. I don't think India has a poverty. It is just a mindset. So I started working on malnutrition, researching on it, and then finding the solution around it. As you all know, IT people always find the solutions. Why can't we find a solution to this problem? Apply a different methodology. I started searching about my native geographical conditions, crops which can grow, what superfoods can do, which is a superfood I can grow in my native. That's where it inspired me to, you know, after 25 years of working with Cisco, Saba, Metrix team, Infosys, great companies in the U. S. And then. This is a time after 45, 46, I thought that, okay, I have another 20, 25 years left for me to serve the society with my stance. That's where I decided to move back. If I move after 60, I may not be able to move so fast. I may not be able to help the farmers. I may not be able to create employment. This is what I thought that, you know, that's the best way to move from IT to. in agriculture. But again, agriculture is messed up in India. Food security is a big problem. I need to come up with some solution. That's what organic farming, the poisonous free for human beings and animals. That's where I moved to, you know, agriculture in 2016 time started looking at the right way to do it.

rahul-mehra_1_04-23-2024_224324: 7:39

Great, sir.

amit-gupta_1_04-23-2024_131324: 7:40

You came to India and set up the organic farming. Did you have any farming experience or you had to build everything, all this knowledge from start?

basaiah-hiremath_1_04-23-2024_224324: 7:52

Yeah, definitely. I'm from rural area. So I had a little bit of glance of you know, agriculture it doesn't mean that I know how I can grow the organic way, how I can do it in the you know, especially for Moringa is concerned, you know, where I adopted in my organic farming. That's something I have to learn it probably around 15, 16, 000 research paper I might have studied, which is great scientists across the world. They published. And I acquired the knowledge from it and then I applied it in my farm, my practice.

rahul-mehra_1_04-23-2024_224324: 8:31

That's great.

amit-gupta_1_04-23-2024_131324: 8:32

and, um, was that something that, so how long have you been into farming now? So you came back in 2016.

basaiah-hiremath_1_04-23-2024_224324: 8:41

Yeah. I started before that you know, searching for a land and finding out some information because I started from 2000 research on Moringa. Definitely. I started cultivation, you know, purchase the land and started cultivation. I would thank my cousin who came with me for organic farming. He understood the value of the agriculture for a good health. So he left his advocacy as a lawyer and he came with me for organic farming. And then it was he has a great experience of agriculture. I have a great exposure to the external world of science. So we blended together. So we worked even today together as a single entity. in my farm. That is a plus point, but definitely nothing is impossible for IT people. They can do anything in this world. They can learn and they can quickly adapt. They can bring the solutions.

amit-gupta_1_04-23-2024_131324: 9:48

Yeah, absolutely. Sometimes the only

rahul-mehra_1_04-23-2024_224324: 9:50

Yeah.

amit-gupta_1_04-23-2024_131324: 9:50

we don't learn is the things that we don't want to do. Okay.

basaiah-hiremath_1_04-23-2024_224324: 9:56

So it's hard, you know, agriculture is very hard. What we look at outside from the world is different. What we see is the consumer product, but actually,

rahul-mehra_1_04-23-2024_224324: 10:08

Right. Absolutely.

basaiah-hiremath_1_04-23-2024_224324: 10:10

today example, it is 38 degree in my native. So It's very difficult. The people don't understand. The consumers don't understand. The farmers are working at 38 degree and they are bringing the value added product and the good product to them on the desk. So that's something that everybody has to understand. That's why I become a farmer. First to understand the pain point of the farmers. It is not that we just have money, we have knowledge, we can do it. The climate has to give up. As a companion, it has to support you, crop has to support you, nature has to support you, and the people has to support you. And then your profit also has to support you to sustainable farming for farmers. That's the thought process that I built, that if I don't make farmers profitable, then I will not sustain in this farming. And organic farming is such that entire globally, if you could, if you take it most of the European countries, Americans. Anybody in that matter. They're looking for the good food. Good food can create a good health. Good health can create a good world.

rahul-mehra_1_04-23-2024_224324: 11:30

So, for our users we would like to know, first of all, can you explain what is Moringa? Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Okay.

basaiah-hiremath_1_04-23-2024_224324: 11:37

For me it looks question is very funny,

rahul-mehra_1_04-23-2024_224324: 11:40

sir.

basaiah-hiremath_1_04-23-2024_224324: 11:41

I don't take it as serious. It is almost 4,000 to five, 5,000 years old plant in Indian history's concern. So the is drought plant. It doesn't need more water or anything. Very less water and. Moringa is something which can grow in any area and you can even cut the plant, it still grows. The Moringa has, Moringa botanical name is Moringa olifera. The word Moringa came from Tamilian word and half of the word came from olifera, Latin and American, some combination of oil and all those things. But in nutshell, Moringa is a nutritional dense superfood plant. In my word. So Moringa is nothing but a drumstick tree. Moringa, in another language, harsh radish tree, they call it as. Countries like Europe and all they have certain jargons for them to you know, to appreciate the Moringa benefits.

amit-gupta_1_04-23-2024_131324: 12:53

So for our listeners who are watching this show and who are not familiar with Moringa as Mr. Basaiah mentioned, it is the it is the drumstick that you would have typically seen in a Sambar, right? Is that the same drumstick we are talking about? Here,

basaiah-hiremath_1_04-23-2024_224324: 13:13

Absolutely. Drumstick is one outcome of the Moringa plant. Drumstick is another plant. Not a chewable fruit, but it is definitely called as fruit. It is a horticulture crop if you make it, as you know, categorized with agriculture and horticulture. It is culture crop, but drumstick is a fruit, but entire plant. Moringga itself is completely can be used, moringa a leaf, moringa a flower, moringa a drumsticks, moringa a seeds, moringa oil. So this, the beauty of this tree is. It is not just today. I'm talking about 4, 000 years back, where only kings are using for their warrior powers, the sharpness of shooting, their mental ability, stability, and the queens are using for beautician purpose. Skin care. That's where it was there 4000 years back. Downside of this, today, 2000 onwards, it has become a superfood. And you know, I can probably explore more or tell about Moringa, but this plant is amazing. It is in It is used in even the Vedas it is written about this multiple vedas. It is return about this plant, the why it is being used. This is called as or the or somewhere else. It means it is a medicine for a lot of diseases, which can bring the brightness in life. Cig is nothing but it can kill the bacteria. Bad bacterias. So, Kribignakarak, so that is, it man, it can cure a lot of bacterias, which are not relevant to your life. If I can stay telling this, it may take days together about this tree, but it is a really a amazing creature of God.

amit-gupta_1_04-23-2024_131324: 15:25

Absolutely. And is this tree native to a specific geography? Is it only found in specific parts of the country? Or do you, is this tree common across the world?

basaiah-hiremath_1_04-23-2024_224324: 15:38

If you go to the history, it is started from Himalayans, the people will tell, but now it is more popular in South India. You can find more in Kerala, more in Tamil Nadu, more in Andhra, more in Karnataka as a regular food. But if you come to north, like Delhi or Kolkata and all, Kolkata people are also using very much, but I'm talking about Haryana and Punjab and all, they are still, you know, unaware of it. Even though people tell about it is from Himalayans and Indian continental Indian country, the Asian countries. It grows everywhere in the you know, Asian countries.

amit-gupta_1_04-23-2024_131324: 16:22

And why is it considered as a miracle tree? What are health benefits associated with it? Because and I'm asking. you as somebody who is really close to the subject, right? Because there are a lot of claims that people will make out there and saying this will do this or this will do that for you. But since you're so close to it, you've done so much of research. What do you think is Moringa most suitable for?

basaiah-hiremath_1_04-23-2024_224324: 16:50

Absolutely. So the Western people, you know, they become mad about it. And they thought that what we can give this plant. It can solve all the problems. Any problem with you, complex problem. It can solve it. Then definitely something is miracle is happening with the plant. That's why they called it as a miracle. The first of all, it is a very nutritionally, dense plant It is like you, you wanted to find any vitamins it is there in this, which is there in the plant. You find any amino acids, 18 amino acids you will find in this. You will find all the minerals, most of the minerals in this. So Find all the, you know, anti oxidant properties,

rahul-mehra_1_04-23-2024_224324: 17:42

great.

basaiah-hiremath_1_04-23-2024_224324: 17:42

need for a woman being to survive available on this 46 and anti inflammatories. It is all most of the important digestive disorders, asthma, arthritis, many more diseases. You can name it in general life. You have all the anti inflammatory on this. It can do cholesterol management. It can do antimicrobial. It can be an antifungal. It can be antibacterial. If you start naming it, the whole problems of the world is Can be solved with Moringa. That's why Western people called Miracle Tree, Life of Tree, another name that Life of Tree also they call it as. So why they call it as Life of Tree? It can also feed the other trees to grow well. That's the beauty of this plant. If you plant this plant with along with any other tree. That plant will grow better than this because it fixes the nitrogen. It provides the required nutrients to the plant also. It is not just for human beings or other plants. It is also for animals. It works for cows, it works for sheep, any plant, any animal which you give as a food supplement or protein supplement. It has a high protein in it. So that's why they started exploring, keep on exploring. They keep on, you know, getting answers to from Moringa. Anti cancer, anti tumor. It is anti HIV, anti So many anti things are there. Anti diabetic. If you are a regular consumer of Moringa, I don't see anybody will be diabetic in this world. Today, India is becoming a diabetic epicenter. But because we are not using our own plant We are, all the 85 percent of the usage is done by the other countries and we are not using at all. We are neglecting our backyard plant. That's why this plant can make any miracle for any diseases. As my experience goes in my real life, if anybody comes to anybody with any problem, I'll tell them, please have this, my powder free of cost. And just tell me after two months, 99. 99%. came back with saying that, sir, thank you very much. That's a miracle no one does.

rahul-mehra_1_04-23-2024_224324: 20:18

a miracle, sir. Sir can you let us know about some innovative products and supplements that you have developed from Moringa at Nandi Organic Farmhouse?

basaiah-hiremath_1_04-23-2024_224324: 20:28

Yeah, absolutely. See, today's generation is very different. If you try to give directly Moringa leaves or Moringa powder, they'll tell

rahul-mehra_1_04-23-2024_224324: 20:39

Right,

basaiah-hiremath_1_04-23-2024_224324: 20:40

plant? I know I don't like it. We have to go with the generation, go with the change, go in the trend. We started, okay, I've started thinking about it. I first made Moringa dry powder, which any athletic, any, you know, fitness guy or anybody who's old age. They can use it, Moringa dry powder, part of the food, part of the soup, part of the smoothie, part of anything, they can use Moringa powder. And second product, which we have started doing, everybody does gelatin capsules. We thought differently as we are making organic certified farming completely, we are organic certified with Europe, US, Japan, India. We thought, okay, let's give a different approach with the veg capsules. We made Moringa capsules with wedge you know, empty capsules. So that's the second product, which doesn't have any side effect to anyone. Third is a Moringa tablets is a generic in nature. We use organic gargum powder and then started Moringa tablets and we started, okay. Then the generation asked pasta, noodles and all stuff like that. Then we made a Moringa. Okay, let's make that, but let's introduce the Moringa soup. Okay. Where people come back from office, they can have soup that, you know, maintain their guts and digestive system that can also, you know, control the diabetic that can also manage their stress and BP. And then we came up with something, let me think about the kids, what they like. They like energy bar, protein bar. Then we started developing energy bar. Then we started thinking about the Indian market today, which is US market is very poised aboard. beauty and anti aging and all that. Then we started, the Moringa is one of the best solution for anti aging. The U. S., we sell more oil to U. S., Moringa oil, because you can look like an younger by using a Moringa oil. So, most of the beauticians or saloons or the regular life, We started developing Moringa oil that is a cold press, not this electrical extract extracted cold press Moringa oil. There are right now we are around 78 products, but we in future we are going to add another 78 products. But apart from that, we introduced recently the best is asserted Moringa green tea. So for different purposes, like example, if you are taking a morning, You can take a detox Moringa tea. If you are finished your breakfast, you can take immunity tree. If you are in the office, one o'clock, you can take, you know, relaxation tree. If you are coming back to home, you can take again sleeping Moringa tea. With a different combination of the herbs in India available organically. We made with Moringa so that effect will be more.

amit-gupta_1_04-23-2024_131324: 23:53

In fact, Raul, this is how I was introduced to Mr. Basaiah also, right, through a common friend, Mr. Kiran Kadekappa. He was the one who introduced us and I spoke with Basaiah. He was very gracious to send me, um, some of his supplements. I'm very thankful because I've actually been taking them for the last 10 days and I wanted to share my own personal experience. So I, I have a problem called trigger finger. So in the morning when I wake up my, my fingers are like this, right? So I'm like in a Spider Man zone. Okay. And for the last 10 days, I've been regularly taking the supplement and I feel, there's a positive difference. At least my fingers are not cramping in the morning. So I, I think there is there is some miracle also happening in my life which I wanted to share with the. Mr. Basaiah, so that more people are also aware of it. We're not making a claim over here. There's no medical claim of, you know, this is solving that kind of a problem. I don't intend to do it, but I'm just sharing my own personal experience of taking that because I think And I read some of the ingredients that, not the ingredient, but the nutrition. And I noticed that there were really high levels of potassium and a lot of minerals, which we typically don't get as part of our regular diet. Right. So I think that was something which I really appreciated and I'm thankful for. You have to send me those products.

basaiah-hiremath_1_04-23-2024_224324: 25:36

Thank you, sir. Thank you for the feedback. You know, when we hear such feedbacks, no, we feel that we work that what we are doing. This is the only satisfaction that we get when the customer the, you know, when we are doing example, I'll tell you when I started this malnutrition eradication program with my district commissioners in my native district, the results were astonishing. Then every commissioner started calling me and we are expanded to around 7. 5 lakh children with 5 percent cost of the commercial and then around 2. 5 lakhs of pregnant women. We started distributing it. That's the most satisfaction, which I have in my life. That,

rahul-mehra_1_04-23-2024_224324: 26:26

That's amazing. Right.

basaiah-hiremath_1_04-23-2024_224324: 26:29

you know, people are starting from different countries, different states. As Amitji told rightly, that it can do anybody miracle with anybody who is normal also they can get the miracles. If we say anybody is perfect, if they take Moringa, I'll tell you the, they will tell you the changes in their work. That's why it is called as Merrick and I'm surprised that how many secrets it has. I mean, last 10 years I've been studying only the Moringa leaves and benefits and oil and benefits. It never ends. It never ends. And I'm very thrilled with this. And I started, you know, ignoring all other plants because one plant can solve all the problems. And why I have to look at the other plants.

amit-gupta_1_04-23-2024_131324: 27:20

He is biased to Moringa.

basaiah-hiremath_1_04-23-2024_224324: 27:24

Yeah, probably, I would say I agree with that, you know, the facts are facts, right? Scientific facts are facts. And I thank to the scientist of who has worked on it and given this kind of an information that I can prove it scientifically. Somebody says I have psoriasis, I have alzheimera, I have asthma, I have arthritis. And then I can tell you that was, this is a content which will fix that issue. And it has been proven scientifically, but as you rightly said, it is, I won't tell as medicine, food as a medicine, rather medicine as a food. This is my slogan. And if you wanted to have a healthy life, you should have Moringa

amit-gupta_1_04-23-2024_131324: 28:09

absolutely.

rahul-mehra_1_04-23-2024_224324: 28:10

Right. All right. All right. Right.

amit-gupta_1_04-23-2024_131324: 28:28

nowadays there's also a lot of about What is in these products? Are they certified? Are they recognized by the right authorities, especially if Moringa supplements have to be sold in the United States? do you have the requisite permissions to be selling in the U. S. and Canada or across the world?

basaiah-hiremath_1_04-23-2024_224324: 28:48

I agree. That's the advantage we come from IT, right? We come with that's what I learned from Infosys. The quality is first and, you know, innovation is second and service is third. So that's what it taught me in my initial journey of 13 years with Infosys. We first, we started with certification only. Organic certification of India, which takes three years. Then you can go for U. S. certification. We went with U. S. certification. Then we went with Europe certification. Then we went with Japan certification. This is the toppest critical certification I can say is Japan. They trace from the soil. To the end product, the most of these European and Americans, they only worried about the product compliance. The Japanese, they start from your soil and water. That's where the IT plots the value to the process compliance. Tests that we have done that I would proud to say that in India today, only doing Moringa certified with Europe, US, Japan, and India, we are the only one as per recent survey. That's only for the compliance sake, but end of the day, our quality, it comes from North Karnataka where the sun is abundant. And stress to the plant to extract the minerals and medicinal values, create the medicinal values to good from my land or my area geographical location that I took advantage out of this and certification definitely is very essential. To meet the country food security and that I completely agree with U s. and Europe and Japan standards and we are compliant with those product standards.

amit-gupta_1_04-23-2024_131324: 30:45

can you name a few you know, certifications that you already have?

basaiah-hiremath_1_04-23-2024_224324: 30:49

As it comes for the organic certification, Organic India, USDA, Organic U. S. and U for the Organic U. S., Europe and the JAS for the Organic Japan certification. And these are the certification which is concerned to the organic, but apart from that as a, you know, FSSA standard for India, ISO standard for processing and many more you know, compliance which is required for India food security is concerned, we are done with that.

amit-gupta_1_04-23-2024_131324: 31:23

And does FDA certification also come into play over here?

basaiah-hiremath_1_04-23-2024_224324: 31:27

Yeah. When it comes to FDA, um, US FDA, USDA is part of the FDA and especially for food supplement. It doesn't come under the drug. It comes under the food, but still US FDA, what we have USDA, we call it as, it is part of the FDA. And then still, if you wanted to take, you can take a FDA approval, USDA, which is US organic, which is more prominent which is acceptable in the US already.

amit-gupta_1_04-23-2024_131324: 32:02

So the USDA certifies that the organic farm,

basaiah-hiremath_1_04-23-2024_224324: 32:06

It meets the FDA approval,

amit-gupta_1_04-23-2024_131324: 32:08

is organic.

basaiah-hiremath_1_04-23-2024_224324: 32:09

yes.

amit-gupta_1_04-23-2024_131324: 32:10

That is excellent.

basaiah-hiremath_1_04-23-2024_224324: 32:12

It is not about just certification, Amitji. Nowadays, as you said, everybody says organic and all that stuff. End of the day, our laboratory test, which is in compliance with the country, has to meet, if you wanted to export. That, from the day one, we have started doing organic. The first crop which came out of our farm, which is exported to U. S. and Europe, especially France and Germany. That's where we got more confidence. Yeah, what we are doing is in a right manner. That's where it built me a more confidence to explore the world more in your products. So today, if you ask me the question, which are all the countries, if you are willing to, or you are already doing export, we are recently done with Dubai. Already we are done with Europe and Asian countries. And the U. S. also, we are doing partially, small amount, but definitely U. S. is the biggest market in the world. People worried about health and care about health there. That's where I think India is also a very big market, but still people like to, you know, um, understand the organic, you know, they're only worried about natural or inorganic. It is getting matured and it is a huge market in India also but definitely world is looking for organic moringa.

amit-gupta_1_04-23-2024_131324: 33:50

And what are the common misconceptions that people have about Moringa that you would have heard, especially for the first timers who are hearing about Moringa? is because a lot of people, especially in the North who are only exposed to the plant as part of Sambar. Right. As a stick, which is in, inside somewhere. So you would have heard a lot of people ask you very questions that, tell you that these are all the different misconceptions about the plant. What are the typical ones that you see?

basaiah-hiremath_1_04-23-2024_224324: 34:21

See, I'll categorize into two things. Okay. One is India is concerned. Okay. India built with a lot of unnecessary misconception that yeah, Moringa is very heat. It is heat oriented because people doesn't understand the science. If you take more peanuts, you will have loose motion because it has a high protein content. Body will not absorb it. Try to detoxify it as much as possible. That motion happens. Same thing with Moringa. Moringa also has a lot of protein. When you take more than what body average is required, then it will also try to detoxify it. One major thing is, they will tell it is more heat, but it is not heat if you take the right dosage. And then, second, this is unsafe to the pregnant and breastfeeding moms. If you go back to my village, my mom worked all the time in the land. She delivered my brother after coming from the land, doing the agriculture activities. And they were eating everything. The immunity of the city people has reduced. The resistance power or the strength has reduced. Because of that, they, you know, they think. But actually doctors suggest after one, one and a half months, you start using moringa. Then your lactation issue will get resolved. More milk production happens. Highly nutritional dense milk production happens. Breastfeeding will be good. This is a misconception they have. But I would agree with some scientific evidence for the city people or the western people, so called urban people, that when you wanted to conceive any pregnant woman, I would suggest breastfeeding. Because of their immunity power is less, strength is less, who are staying in urban, not in rural, they should stop consuming before the 10 days. Because it has a lot of protein, you may have a detoxification like loose motion, you may lose your energy you think, but actually Moringa will not lose your energy, it gives more energy, it converts your food, but this is a misconception there. After conceiving, I would start again to take it. I have experimented with US and even US people are taking from me Moringa powder. Believe it or not. Ex Vice Chancellor's daughter in the U. S., she started taking from one and a half months pregnancy till nine months. I just fluked, I told them, your kid will be more than three and a half kg. It is 4. 2 kg. I, she was the first after delivery, she called me. She said, thank you, uncle. I'm telling you the kind of nutrition which provides to the baby, which is there in the womb that helps kids to grow all the angles, neurological, neuron cells, heart, blood, muscles, bone strength. I would say people after pregnancy, one and a half, two months, they start taking very little amount that will fit to your child. After delivery, after another month or so, you start taking it. It gives a very good breastfeeding. These are the two misconceptions I have seen in the heat. And as well as unsafe to the pregnant, yeah, there are some doctors will prove it because the every patient is different. But I would say wherever the, I would advise to take a doctor's suggestion based on their body condition. They will say another misconception in India, Amity will be choked that if you put a tree in front of your house or back out of your house, that evil vanish, your life will vanish. You know why? Because these drumstick plants branches are very weak. When kids are there in the house, they will try to climb on it and they will break and they will have some, you know, kind of, damage to the, their organs. That's why they told, but that becomes an another way of telling now in India, hey don't grow Moringa. So I wanted to clear all of these things with this session. Thank you for that very good question you asked and and I wanted to make sure that In U. S. everybody can have at least one plant in their house

amit-gupta_1_04-23-2024_131324: 39:13

Okay. So can it,

basaiah-hiremath_1_04-23-2024_224324: 39:14

to save them.

amit-gupta_1_04-23-2024_131324: 39:16

we have kinds of weather, right? So, um, Especially in the north if you go, there's this, there's a lot of snow. And then in the southern southeast of us, that I think florida Georgia, those kind of states, a little bit of north in South Carolina, they have a relatively sort of climate to India. So I, I can understand Moringa growing there, but can Moringa also grow in a place like Seattle, where there is it's very cold

basaiah-hiremath_1_04-23-2024_224324: 39:49

Heavy rain.

amit-gupta_1_04-23-2024_131324: 39:50

rain,

basaiah-hiremath_1_04-23-2024_224324: 39:51

Yeah. Yeah. That's my first experience in Seattle. When I came to Seattle, it was like a Bangalore. So you can grow. I'm telling you this is a drought plant. But even though as long as you are keeping in your balcony and there is no too much of water to it, It will grow. This is amazing plant. But I would suggest, as you said, North Carolina and all those areas, that exactly suits. Texas, exactly suits. The drought, heavy temperature, exactly suits. Probably I would say no to Boston. Because there are icefall is there, you know, snowfall is there, too much, this thing is there. But New Jersey, New York, yeah, okay. But in rainy season, probably you will lose the plant, but again, you can grow it. As long as rain is not too much on this plant, it can survive. I heard that there are a lot of people in the US, they started cultivating moringa nowadays.

amit-gupta_1_04-23-2024_131324: 40:53

Yeah, I think it's getting popular in Florida. There there's a lot of Indian crop or Indian trees that are being raised by Indian origin farmers, if I may call them. There's a lot of interest in Indian plants, like the Chiku or the Sapota, the Indian mangoes. There's a lot of Jamun And the other varieties are being grown over here. So they are, they're trying that in states like Florida and Texas

basaiah-hiremath_1_04-23-2024_224324: 41:23

one thing I wanted to tell you, Amit, see the nature is so diverse and vast it is. These plants are born in the area where they're supposed to be born and if you see the aroma of every fruit or the flower and the smell, it's come from the native is much better than any place. If I try to grow you know, something strawberry in my native I can't, even though I grow it, I can't get that, you know, the taste, what I read. Like, I've seen many people are giving feedback from U. S. Sir, as soon as you open your bottle, the aroma of your Moringa, which is completely different than what we get in U. S you know, this is all bind to the, our soil, our nature, water, and the kind of thing, right? So, you and me are, both are Indians, right? So, how our frequency matches is much faster than this thing. That's that's the way it is. You can grow it is like, now Africa is growing, um, Pakistan is growing and Bangladesh very little, Sri Lanka is doing, Indonesia is doing, Asian countries are doing. And I heard recent videos I have seen in the US two channels, they're also trying their best. Definitely. I'll tell you. The it is not just a biased side, biasing my Moringa, but you will find the difference in Indian Moringa versus any other.

amit-gupta_1_04-23-2024_131324: 42:58

Absolutely.

rahul-mehra_1_04-23-2024_224324: 42:59

Mr. Musai, I have question for you regarding Nandi Organic Farmhouse. So what are your major goals for over the next few years?

basaiah-hiremath_1_04-23-2024_224324: 43:08

It's a very interesting question, sir. So we came you know, as a CSR activity to malnutrition. Now with that, we are identifying a very good market. Keeping in market in mind. Okay. Our goals are to expand our agriculture land from 100 acres to 500 acres in next one to two years. Maybe in five years, it will be around thousands of acres. There are three things in it. One is helping more farmers, more and more organic cultivation, creating more employment. Fourth is more export to the countries where they need moringa. This is our plan. And more products. More products with Moringa into the market.

rahul-mehra_1_04-23-2024_224324: 44:00

Right. So you said 77, 70 something more products you are going to come up with next year, right?

basaiah-hiremath_1_04-23-2024_224324: 44:06

Yes. Yes, absolutely.

amit-gupta_1_04-23-2024_131324: 44:08

That's a lot of growth that in terms of your farmhouses, right? Or the farms on which you're producing from 100 acres to 500 acres, and then maybe a few thousand. so, In terms of your international presence of your brand, you mentioned that you're currently doing some export to Middle East and a little bit of United States. What would you need from these markets or what are the kind of partnerships or collaborations that you're looking for, especially for people in the US and Canada who are listening to the show? If they have to reach out to you, we'll of course have links to your website and to your LinkedIn profile as part of our description of this video. But what would you be looking for in an ideal opener in these countries to help spread your mission and also make Moringa more accessible to the common people?

basaiah-hiremath_1_04-23-2024_224324: 45:12

Yeah. All these numbers, which I told sir has asked about the goals next, it's all market driven. Okay. It's not that you know, the demand is so much, I'm not able to meet today. The ask from the Western market is so high and I'm not able to meet and that they want quality also. Right. Right. Right. That it as we are certified, we spent a lot of time on this certification and standards. We wanted to emphasize that the people in the other countries that we are on par with your standards. We are capable of, you know, delivering it to you, the quantity which you want in terms of the raw material in terms of the products in our brand. As well as in terms of the white labeling or in terms of the package format in your brand. We are at end of the day, as an individual, as an entrepreneur, I'm looking at health for the entire globe, entire world. So just consuming one, one spoon, teaspoon of the Moringa powder, which can change their life. I wanted to emphasize everyone in the U. S. or Canada or Europe. If you're really looking for the quality, if you're really looking for the you know, good products from India, we are there for you to help and serve you. That's what I wanted to say.

amit-gupta_1_04-23-2024_131324: 46:44

Absolutely. And this is where I think, um, our podcast hopefully should should connect the dots. People who are listening to this show watching you we, we definitely encourage you to reach out to Mr. Basaiah and understand more about the product and understand about. the business opportunity for you to introduce this product. And there are so many different variations of your product that is already available on your websites, right? So there are capsules, there's oil you're also talking about producing Moringa flower, right? So people can actually infuse it into their diet more more often. And Rahul, there's also a great Potential collaboration. I, I will I will say between Mr. Uh, Baia and Vinod uh, we know that could hopefully bring we were talking about this idea sometime back about moringa infused noodles, which are also healthy and good for, people, and also good to introduce or easier to introduce moringa. to children who are slightly fussy about eating and, you know, they will be happy to eat it in the form of noodles and pasta. So hopefully those kinds of

rahul-mehra_1_04-23-2024_224324: 47:59

Right.

amit-gupta_1_04-23-2024_131324: 48:00

also, um, materialize and you are able to spread the message even further. Absolutely,

rahul-mehra_1_04-23-2024_224324: 48:08

So that will be amazing. That will be actually amazing. Great.

basaiah-hiremath_1_04-23-2024_224324: 48:11

Just to add on Amit, so we for a country specific is concerned for expansion to our business. We definitely look for the right partners either in our brand or they're in brand and their brand. We are ready to work strategically with country, countrywide, okay? So that we focus on, they understand their country specific better, and we can also be ready for their kind of a products they choose, they want, we can ready to develop it. That's where you know, our value addition comes to the Moringa. So we wanted to look out the global market, definitely. And I would thanks both of you. bottom of my heart. It's an amazing discussion we had today.

amit-gupta_1_04-23-2024_131324: 49:00

sir. One final question that I have for you this evening is when you finally say that, okay, now I'm going to retire and not do this anymore. What would be that legacy that you want to be called out for, right? I, I called you as the Moringa Man of India since the day I met you. I'm calling you as the Moringa Man. But what is the that you want to leave behind as a legacy so that people remember and your work? How would you want?

basaiah-hiremath_1_04-23-2024_224324: 49:35

So I would rather say they don't have to remember me, but they should remember Moringa. That is my legacy and they should carry this. You know, I personally, I have my personal target that at least From my state, 100 people should be exporting Moringa to other countries. This is my personal target before retiring. I don't see I'll get retired because you know, as you know, God gives me a strength, I'll be working on it. I've taken a mission that it will never end, but definitely, I want the Moringa to be the well known food supplement or a food ingredient for the entire world until I, you know, whatever I can contribute to that level. That I wanted to contribute best of my efforts. This is my goal.

amit-gupta_1_04-23-2024_131324: 50:27

Absolutely. And we definitely support your mission. And we encourage you to also share more new discoveries new innovations about Moringa with us on a regular basis so that we can also help. Uh, Cascade that to our viewers and our listeners who can learn more about Moringa on a regular basis. And we want to keep track of all your achievements and stay in touch with you. And once again I think on behalf of the Indian community on the global Indian community, I want to thank you and congratulate you for all the hard work that you're doing, especially leaving the comforts of an air conditioned cubicle. To being there in the farm bearing all that heat and working on the ground with the farmers and bringing them technology, innovation and the the Moringa dream, right? So we all talk about the American dream. I think here we are sitting with a man with the Moringa dream and we want to really thank you for everything that you're doing, sir.

basaiah-hiremath_1_04-23-2024_224324: 51:31

Thank you. Thank you. Um, and you know, for me, it is inspirational. So because you talk to the people who connect to the people who collaborate with people, that's a inspiration for me. So I think it is a different layer. You both of you are talking at connecting to the our own Indian forum and thanks full. To the, all the listeners who are going to listen to this podcast and you know, love Moringa, live with Moringa and have a healthy life with Moringa.

rahul-mehra_1_04-23-2024_224324: 52:08

Thank you. Thank you, sir. That's a great message.