In Might 2023, Shubha Bhatnagar initiated a slightly fascinating dinner desk dialog. She shared her dream of cultivating saffron indoors and offering employment to rural ladies within the close by villages. A homemaker, the 63-year-old was “freed from tasks” and wished to embark upon a journey of self-reliance by turning into an agriprenuer.
On the dinner desk have been two engineers: her son and daughter-in-law, and her husband, who runs a chilly storage enterprise. They have been intrigued by her concept and instantly began make her imaginative and prescient a actuality.
Conversations within the following weeks and months that adopted have been not in regards to the on a regular basis mundanities, however slightly about how saffron may very well be cultivated indoors and the way they may obtain the mandatory weather conditions.
Saffron, a extremely valued spice, is completely grown in Kashmir, benefiting from its distinctive soil and climate situations. By way of trial and error, they replicated the weather conditions of Kashmir in a chilly storage room in Mainpuri utilizing IoT (Web Of Issues).
Thus, by integrating expertise, they planted the authentically sourced seeds within the chilly storage chamber in August 2023, yielding their first harvest roughly three months later. Named ‘Shubhavni SmartFarms,’ they commenced promoting their first produce of two kilograms of saffron earlier this 12 months. They’ve bought over Rs 8 lakh value of saffron and employed 25 ladies to date.
Right here’s how Shubha achieved this outstanding feat.
A enterprise journey to Kashmir
After finishing her MA (Grasp of Arts) in Hindi from Shikohabad, Shubha received married and moved to Mainpuri. She spent the following 40 years of her life taking good care of her two kids: a son and daughter, and later her grandchildren.
It was solely up to now few years that she began in search of avenues to start out a enterprise. “I needed to place my time and life to good use. Fortunately, I’m wholesome and able to do some onerous work. At this stage of life, I need to discover some function and that means to it,” shares Shubha.
As agriculture is a significant occupation in Mainpuri, she began doable choices of crops that may very well be grown indoors, due to her husband’s enterprise as a result of chilly storage is a requirement for indoor farming.
“I might typically meet farmers and ladies who labored as helpers in fields. They’d a tricky time offering for his or her households and educating their ladies. I needed to make use of these ladies via no matter enterprise I started,” Shubha tells The Higher India.
She lastly shortlisted mushrooms and saffron after months of analysis and feasibility research, and determined to go forward with saffron.
Often known as kesar in Hindi, saffron is without doubt one of the costliest spices globally. Iran holds the title of the biggest producer of saffron, with India following swimsuit. Inside India, this spice finds cultivation completely in Jammu and Kashmir, owing to its beneficial local weather.
Shubha’s son Ankit began researching methods to develop the spice indoors utilizing aeroponics. He additionally appeared into the expertise and sensors wanted to watch the crop.
In the meantime, Shubha confronted a dilemma relating to procuring seeds or saffron bulbs. She wasn’t content material with merely ordering them from Kashmir with out assessing the standard and gaining insights from native farmers. To handle this, the household launched into a visit to Kashmir for every week, participating with farmers, immersing themselves within the cultivation course of, and studying the dos and don’ts instantly from the locals.
“We met about 25 to 30 farmers in Kashmir and spent many days with them. We needed to be taught in regards to the type of soil they use, the method of cultivating saffron, how lengthy it takes, and which temperatures saffron thrives in. We additionally purchased the bulbs from them,” says Ankit.
After coming again, Shubha arrange a chilly storage room of 560 sq. toes and began with 2,000 kg of saffron bulbs.
How do you develop saffron indoors?
After getting the saffron bulbs from Kashmir, which appear to be garlic pods, step one was to dry them in a room and later aerate them for 3 days. They needed to be checked, cleaned and turned each few hours by hand, which is historically completed by ladies in Kashmir. Every seed was checked for moisture and decay, and any additional pores and skin was eliminated via a course of referred to as silvering.
As soon as the seeds have been aerated, they have been positioned in a chilly room in vertical trays on racks. “There must be no water, moisture or humidity,” informs Ankit.
The bulbs began rising and buds emerged after a number of days. Then, the problem was to know when to supply mild to the buds and at what temperature. Whereas the attractive valleys of Kashmir present the right atmosphere which the buds take pleasure in, replicating them 1,200 km away was a large activity.
“In Kashmir, the bud receives mild solely when it comes out of the soil. Studying at what stage that occurs and offering the correct temperature was the most important problem. After we began, we positioned bulbs in 18 racks in six rows and offered completely different temperatures and lightweight to every rack to guage which one labored the very best,” shares Ankit.
To realize this, Shubha and Ankit went via 10 years of saffron manufacturing information in Kashmir. They discovered that the very best harvest was achieved in 2015-16 and replicated the temperatures of that 12 months. They developed a programme utilizing IoT units and sensors to take care of the correct situations and a managed setting via aeroponics.
In about 60 days, the attractive purple flower emerged and was prepared for harvest!
Every saffron flower has three elements — the stigma, which is used for consumption; the stamen, which is yellow and used within the textile trade; and the petals, that are purple and used within the textile trade too.
As soon as harvested, the stigma, extra generally often called saffron, should endure drying and packaging. Shubhavni sells one gram of saffron for Rs 750. They’re presently conducting on-line gross sales, with whole gross sales amounting to Rs 8 lakh so far.
Whereas Ankit developed the system, it’s Shubha who maintains it and oversees the enterprise. She realized in regards to the expertise employed, pc dealing with, the artwork of gross sales, and rather more. She smiles as she says, “There’s no age restrict to studying.”
She now plans to multiply manufacturing by tripling the world below manufacturing. She additionally desires to attempt for 2 harvests in a 12 months, whereas usually just one harvest is completed.
The benefit of rising saffron indoors
Shubha is without doubt one of the few individuals main the shift in the direction of indoor agriculture, particularly in saffron. Many farmers in Kashmir too are making this change, as local weather change has severely hampered their saffron manufacturing. A report in The Wire states that the world below saffron cultivation in Kashmir has decreased from 5,707 hectares in 1996 to 1,116 hectares in 2020.
Indoor farming isn’t threatened by local weather change, soil points or developments close by. It’s basically foolproof if one masters the artwork of sustaining the correct temperature and settings.
One other benefit is the area wanted for cultivation. “A farmer would usually sow 2,000 kg of saffron in 1.5 acres of land, whereas we’re in a position to do the identical in 560 sq. toes,” Ankit explains.
Shubha desires to create a saffron “revolution” and assist extra individuals develop the spice indoors. By way of her enterprise, she is presently offering employment to over 20 ladies in Mainpuri, as the method of rising saffron is laborious. Proper from drying the bulbs to plucking every stigma, drying, and packing them, it requires cautious and exact work.
For ladies like Geeta Devi, it gives a reliable revenue. At 40 years outdated, she’s a mom of 5 and the first supplier for her household. Beforehand, she laboured within the fields below the scorching solar, struggling to make ends meet. Work was inconsistent, and revenue was meagre, she recollects. Nevertheless, since becoming a member of Shubhavni Farms final July, her state of affairs has improved.
“I benefit from the work right here and introduced in 20 extra ladies. We have been taught the whole lot about saffron cultivation and did the whole lot from aeration to preserving it clear and eradicating the stamen from the flower. We’re working in a snug setting as an alternative of bearing the tough warmth. We receives a commission no less than Rs 100 extra per day,” says Geeta.
It’s Shubha’s dream to supply a daily supply of revenue to extra ladies like Geeta and be sure that their kids have a greater future. And to each girl wanting to start out a enterprise, she has one message, “By no means underestimate your self and your goals.”
“I wish to imagine that we’re not a patriarchal society. We’re equally succesful. Self-reliance offers immense confidence and provides you a chance to encourage others. Even beginning a small enterprise will enhance your happiness stage and morale,” says Shubha.
At the moment, the Bhatnagar household’s dinner desk conversations are about how the harvest has been and the way they may obtain two harvests in a single 12 months!
Edited by Pranita Bhat, Pictures Courtesy Ankit Bhatnagar