Shopian, Aug 29: A female integrative farmer from south Kashmir, who earlier used to practice law, is now growing conventional and exotic vegetables in her orchards and is providing jobs to over a dozen people.
Syed Shazia, 31, wife of Gulbadin Ahmad Mir, a resident of Moloo Chitragam in Shopian district has been growing grapes, kiwi and other items, and the vegetables grown by her were exported to UAE by the agriculture department last year.
Talking to the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) Shazia said she hadn’t much information about farming till marriage while her in-laws have been associated with traditional farming for generations.
“During the COVID-19 lockdown, as the entire world was shut, I found that in my family there was hardly any difference because poultry, dairy, vegetables, fish, fruits, etc were all homegrown and this made me rethink my whole life and my priorities. So, I switched from my active law practice to full-time farming, she said.
Shazia added, “Since I was new to farming and my in-laws already had generations of experience, so I added my own innovation to the traditional farming. My methodology was integrative farming modal where I integrated our farming sectors like dairy-vermicomposting, poultry-composting, conventional to exotic varieties, and traditional to hybrid.”
With the guidance from Agriculture Department, we switched to exotic vegetables like Nadur (lotus), broccoli, cauliflower, grapes, kiwi and plum, backyard poultry, rabbitry, etc and we were able to obtain more returns from the same resources, she said, adding, “Our farm has been turned into a farming school where farmers come and learn new innovations. In 2022, our vegetables were exported to UAE through the agriculture department.”
The fields where Shazia has been working include traditional apples (15 kanals), high density & medium density apples (15 kanals), grapes, plum and kiwi orchards 5 kanals, vegetables: conventional & exotic vegetables like broccoli, Chinese cabagae, lettuce, knol khol, nadur, pulses sweet corn, hybrid cattle fodder/ sorgam, super napier, poultry-broiler (12k/cycle). backyard layers (van Raja, Kadaknath, Rir), guinea fowl, turkey etc, rabbitry, fish farms-trout (10k fingerlings), carp (5k), dairy farm and vermicompost and compost.
In addition to our family of 10 persons, we have 10 full-time workers and casuals, Shazia said.
She said integrative farming gives employment, recognition and satisfaction. There is a lot of scope for innovation in our farming and if youngsters, especially educated youth, come forward we can certainly revolutionise the farming industry, she added.
Syed requested other women to start integrative farming with the help of government schemes to become financially independent. “One shouldn’t sit idle at home but start their own units with the help of various schemes. Youth shouldn’t run after government jobs only. Rather they must start something and if they work hard, they will very soon become job providers instead of job seekers,” she said—(KNO)
