Bhubaneswar, Aug. 28: Two friends - Amruta Dash and Saswati Acharya - have come up with an innovative way to make use of the free space in their homes - cultivate plants that produce edible oil.

The duo are producing cold-pressed edible oils at affordable prices, all from their 100sqft space at their Delta Colony home here. They are producing sunflower, sesame, mustard, coconut and peanut oil while ensuring they all retain their nutrients.

"External impurities have little scope to affect oil when it is extracted at home. Without the use of any harsh chemicals or rigorous processing, these oils are almost certainly healthier than those available in the markets, event branded products," said 32-year-old Amruta.

They receive a number of orders from homemakers every month, while a number of hotels and restaurants have also started using their oils. Apart from oils, they also grow vegetables and organic food supplements.

Amruta's friend Saswati Acharya assists her in this endeavour. Both are students of National Law University, Odisha.

"We mostly work during the weekends and on other days, we have hired five women to do the job," Amruta added. They began home-farming in 2010, starting with growing mushrooms.

More and more youngsters in the city are growing their own food in an organic manner in backyards and terraces.

Another entrepreneur, Narasingha Panigrahi has launched a website www.recyclepaper.in that provides pick-up solutions for paper waste from the doorstep. He has also started an initiative where urban farmers can make their own manure from the waste produced in the kitchen.

They are promoting khamba - a special container for composting waste such as fruit and vegetable peels, cooked food, bones of meat and fish, egg shells and tea leaves, among others. "The container comes with a kit that includes composting products such as microbes. It is ideal for tight spaces such as apartments," said Panigrahi.

One can buy the set-up for Rs 2,800 or barter it for old newspapers. "The idea is to promote organic farming in cities and create awareness about growing manure in homes," he said.

On World Kitchen Garden Day today, members of the city's Kitchen Garden Association organised a special meeting where people shared their experiences and problems during implementing urban farming. The meeting was addressed by experts in the field and academics.

Sugata Nayak, a homemaker from Gajapati Nagar, provides consulting services on how to grow herbs in houses apart from vegetables.

"Plants such as lemon grass, tulsi, pepper, aswagandha, ginger and lemon can be used to prepare quality herbal tea. More than 20 households here grow medicinal herbs," said Nayak.