In Could 2023, Shubha Bhatnagar initiated a somewhat attention-grabbing dinner desk dialog. She shared her dream of cultivating saffron indoors and offering employment to rural girls within the close by villages. A homemaker, the 63-year-old was “freed from duties” 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 thought and instantly began taking a look at the way to make her imaginative and prescient a actuality.

Conversations within the following weeks and months that adopted have been now not concerning the on a regular basis mundanities, however somewhat about how saffron could possibly be cultivated indoors and the way they might obtain the required weather conditions.

Saffron, a extremely valued spice, is completely grown in Kashmir, benefiting from its distinctive soil and climate circumstances. Via 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 offered over Rs 8 lakh value of saffron and employed 25 girls to this point.

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 obtained married and moved to Mainpuri. She spent the subsequent 40 years of her life caring for her two kids: a son and daughter, and later her grandchildren.

It was solely prior to now few years that she began in search of avenues to begin a enterprise. “I needed to place my time and life to good use. Fortunately, I’m wholesome and able to do some laborious work. At this stage of life, I need to discover some function and that means to it,” shares Shubha.

As agriculture is a serious occupation in Mainpuri, she began taking a look at attainable choices of crops that could possibly be grown indoors, due to her husband’s enterprise as a result of chilly storage is a requirement for indoor farming.

“I’d typically meet farmers and girls who labored as helpers in fields. That they had a troublesome time offering for his or her households and educating their girls. I needed to make use of these girls by 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 most important producer of saffron, with India following go well with. 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 per week, partaking with farmers, immersing themselves within the cultivation course of, and studying the dos and don’ts straight from the locals.

“We met about 25 to 30 farmers in Kashmir and spent many days with them. We needed to be taught concerning the form 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. ft 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 girls in Kashmir. Every seed was checked for moisture and decay, and any further pores and skin was eliminated by a course of known 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 couple of days. Then, the problem was to know when to supply gentle to the buds and at what temperature. Whereas the gorgeous valleys of Kashmir present the right atmosphere which the buds take pleasure in, replicating them 1,200 km away was a large job.

“In Kashmir, the bud receives gentle solely when it comes out of the soil. Studying at what stage that occurs and offering the best temperature was the most important problem. After we began, we positioned bulbs in 18 racks in six rows and offered totally different temperatures and lightweight to every rack to guage which one labored the most effective,” shares Ankit.

To realize this, Shubha and Ankit went by 10 years of saffron manufacturing information in Kashmir. They discovered that the most effective harvest was achieved in 2015-16 and replicated the temperatures of that 12 months. They developed a programme utilizing IoT units and sensors to keep up the best circumstances and a managed atmosphere by aeroponics.

In about 60 days, the gorgeous 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 business; and the petals, that are purple and used within the textile business too.

As soon as harvested, the stigma, extra generally generally known as saffron, should endure drying and packaging. Shubhavni sells one gram of saffron for Rs 750. They’re at the moment conducting on-line gross sales, with complete gross sales amounting to Rs 8 lakh up to now.

Whereas Ankit developed the system, it’s Shubha who maintains it and oversees the enterprise. She discovered concerning the expertise employed, pc dealing with, the artwork of gross sales, and far 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 sometimes just one harvest is finished.

The benefit of rising saffron indoors

Shubha is without doubt one of the few folks main the shift in direction of indoor agriculture, particularly in saffron. Many farmers in Kashmir too are making this swap, 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 best temperature and settings.

One other benefit is the area wanted for cultivation. “A farmer would sometimes sow 2,000 kg of saffron in 1.5 acres of land, whereas we’re capable of do the identical in 560 sq. ft,” Ankit explains.

Shubha desires to create a saffron “revolution” and assist extra folks develop the spice indoors. Via her enterprise, she is at the moment offering employment to over 20 girls 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 affords a reliable revenue. At 40 years previous, 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 remembers. Nonetheless, since becoming a member of Shubhavni Farms final July, her scenario has improved.

“I benefit from the work right here and introduced in 20 extra girls. We have been taught all the pieces about saffron cultivation and did all the pieces from aeration to protecting it clear and eradicating the stamen from the flower. We’re working in a cushty atmosphere as a substitute of bearing the cruel warmth. We receives a commission no less than Rs 100 extra per day,” says Geeta.

It’s Shubha’s dream to supply an everyday supply of revenue to extra girls like Geeta and be sure that their kids have a greater future. And to each girl wanting to begin a enterprise, she has one message, “By no means underestimate your self and your desires.”

“I want to consider that we’re now 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 degree and morale,” says Shubha.

At present, the Bhatnagar household’s dinner desk conversations are about how the harvest has been and the way they might obtain two harvests in a single 12 months!

Edited by Pranita Bhat, Pictures Courtesy Ankit Bhatnagar