Grown With Love
“You are all welcome to GR Farms because every guest coming to our door is special and we love it because we’re fulfilling our mission to educate about what we do while bringing new faces to the farm on a regular basis all year long”
We Have One Goal
To Provide The Best Possible
Quality Services and Organic Products.
GR Farms offers seasonal U-pick options to families and individuals who are in love with nature and are willing to take a dip in freshwater tube well ponds. We believe in one concept of Back to Basics and strive to provide several options that expose you and your loved ones to basic farm life, so you and your loved ones can enjoy the warmth of village life, its fresh environs and the chirping melodies of various exotic bird’s species. In fact, GR Farms gives you opportunities to control your fast-moving clock for a while and lets you take control of your time where you can enjoy closeness of your family away from the busy city life, at your own pace with access to organic food for immediate use and purchase.
Our History
The GR Family has been in the farming business since the partition of the subcontinent. We began growing crops, fruits, and vegetables back in 1960. By 2018, Our crops consist of about 60 acres of wheat, 20 acres of various Seedless table Grape varieties such as Pink Ruby, ‘Perlette Green Grape’ and NARC Black, 8 acres of Travet Apricots, 4 acres of Plums, 4 acres of Peaches, more than 10 acres of Sukri and Shigri orange varieties, 2 acres of Sugarcane, 4 acres of Cow Dairy farm alongwith a state of the art milk parlor and pasteurizing Unit, 4 acres of Moringa Oleifera Plants alongwith Sudanese grass, Maize, Alfalfa and other crops. Few crops are grown on rotation basis to meet the demand of dairy farm including other elements that you must explore yourself, such as watermelons, pumpkins and other vegetables. We are also experimenting inter cropping to enhance the per acre production.
Mr. & Mrs. Mohammad Amjad & Adnan Shafqat decided to continue the family traditions of farming and transformed GR Farms into more than just a land holding for producing crops and fruits. With his exceptional knowledge and experience, Mr. Amjad implemented new procedures, process and concepts that he learned from across the world and developed GR Farms into a proactive facility over a period of last 10 years, which involves growing crops on raised beds using Drip Irrigation System, incorporation of Solar panels to meet the growing demand for electricity and Tube wells, Biogas production and harvesting fresh fruits. Hence, the farm is run on solar energy, along with biogas produced in three biogas pits to meet the day to day demands.
GR Farms formed joint venture with Curatives Consulting in 2018 and during last 5 years GR Farms stepped onto a new path for Product development, branding, marketing along with the introduction fresh dairy products such as pasteurized milk, yogurt and Cottage Cheese. State of the art pasteurizing facility was established on farm in 2019 for production and packaging of fresh pasteurized milk. Consumer driven marketing strategies were developed and farm was transformed from a generic farm into an organic, adventure facility and beyond.
A food management company was incorporated by the GR Foods in 2019. Mr. Adnan is leading the marketing & strategies to reenergize the farms services into multiple domains such as product branding and marketing at small scale farm level, converting fresh milk into pasteurized fresh milk and branding it into GRAS Milk, Yogurt and Cheese. Branding and supply chain management across the board from milk extraction at parlor, pasteurizing, packing and delivery to the end customers at their homes while maintaining cold chain. Development of GR Farms Market & Tours, GR educational tours, GR Market web presence and mobile application for online ordering and purchase. Multiple Agri tours and family events are organized on monthly basis.
Mr. Razi Uddin Farooqi is responsible for overseeing the Administration office, food safety and allied operations. as well as the GR Farms Market & Tours, GR Farms educational tours and events.
Currently, GR Farms is growing on over 100 acres, including mature green and ripe table varieties of grapes, peaches, apricots and oranges, along with other fruits etc. Other produce grown by GR Farms include garlic, wheat, tomatoes, pumpkins, cucumbers, peppers, maze, sugarcane, Reddish, Broccoli and other vegetables. In addition to growing fruits and vegetables, we grade, pack, and ship our fruits across the local markets. Fruits and vegetables grown on GR Farms are also sold at our neighboring markets and in the fruit and vegetable market of Islamabad.
At GR Farms, our fruit season typically lasts from late March until early July. We offer school tours that teach students how we grow crops fruits and manage Dairy farm. We also offer weekend events that provide fun and entertainment for the entire families.
Throughout our history, GR Farms and our team has adapted to keep up with technology and the ever-changing demands of consumers while keeping farm operation viable as far as possible. In a day when we see many family farms having to sell out, we are more determined than ever to ensure the future of GR Farms and its more than 20+ team members (during peak season).
Our Mission
GR Farms plans to offer young children enrollment in the “Read, Learn, Grow” programs, where children can listen to a knowledge focused on fruits, vegetables and farm animals with teachers and farmers involvement. Fruit or vegetable picking, visit to a milk processing facility or craft activities are also part of these programs. GR Farms family believes that it is incredibly successful and rewarding to teach children about agriculture and its importance.
Since children are our future, they deserve to know how food gets to their homes, how it is sent to market and how it is purchased. We are sure that parents will also love these activities because these activities propagate knowledge and expose children to the most important information and we are sure children will love it too as it is a ton of fun.
Our Location
GR Farms is on the outskirts of Rawalpindi, just off the Neelah Dullah interchange, Exit 19. A small metaled road leads to Chak Koka, one of the many small chaks (village) of Basti Abdullah, Pakistan’s largest village by number of chaks. This area is blessed with fertile lands and was an important agricultural hub even before the partition of the subcontinent.
GR Farms is nestled in an open valley with mud ridges on one side and open fields of orchards and agricultural land on the other. Spread over an area of more than 100 Acres, we can enter the farm facility passing through Waddala Kas (Stream) a small stream that originates from Darkali kas and runs beside the farm land and adjoining different connecting streams to form bigger stream by the name of Waddala and eventually ends in River Soan.
GR Farm's Attractions
“GR Farms is a Complete Green Organic Farm with the following facilities.”
- Dairy Farm
- Tube well
- Bathing pit
- Weather Channel
- Masjid
- Kids playing areas
- Fresh Fruits Orchards
- Fresh Organic Veggies
- Milk Pasteurizing Plant
- Fresh Organic Whole Milk
- Biogas Development
- Traditional Village Kitchen
- Duck Pond
- Videography
- Photography
- Natural Environs
- Company Retreats
- Hi-tech drip irrigation
- Exotic Birds Watching
- Solar Energy Development
- Farming Tools & Equipments
- Tractor Trolley & Donkey cart Rides
Sustainable Agriculture
GAPS (Good Agriculture Practice Standards)
We are often asked by consumers about our growing practices and if we “spray” our produce. At GR Farms, we take food safety, the health of our customers, and the environment very seriously. We supply grocery stores, restaurants and public with fresh produce. In this role we take on the huge responsibility of making sure our food is safe and traceable. We don’t take this role lightly but instead have volunteered in many instances to be the test farm for many audit programs designed for this industry. We go above and beyond when providing certification for grocery stores and restaurants.
The term “spray” is a very broad term. farmers using organic or best farming practices (which we refer to as “sustainable agriculture”) sometimes have to “spray”. Pesticides, fumigants and chemicals are very expensive. Our farm uses technology and growing practices that help us minimize the use of these products as much as possible. These practices include growing our berries and other crops on raised beds. However, due to our climate and weather conditions we sometimes do have to use methods to control pests, fungus and diseases.
If we do have to use pesticides, we follow all guidelines set forth by the government regulators that set the safety standards. Typically, we apply our pesticides before the fruit is developed and before we begin harvesting on a regular basis to ensure a healthy plant. Once harvesting begins we spray only as needed and with the lowest amount recommended.
Our farm also uses GAPS which stands for Good Agriculture Practice Standards. All employees are required each year to complete GAPS training which covers the importance of good handwashing while handling produce. This is why we ask all customers as well to wash their hands while picking their produce. Another aspect of GAPS is to make sure to wash all produce before consumption to element risks that are beyond a farmer’s control.
Another question often asked is about GMO’s (Genetically Modified Organisms). The produce we grow is non-GMO as most fruits and vegetables are.
We understand that you want the safest products for yourself, your children and your family. At GR Farms, we would not provide food for your family that we wouldn’t serve on our own table.
