Sabzar Nurseries’: A glaring example of ‘agri entrepreneurship’ in Budgam

Away from the city hustle, there is a sprawling 30 kanalpiece of land at Bugam near Chadoora in central Kashmir’s Budgam district,where “Sabzar Nurseries” presents a glaring example of “agri entrepreneurship”.

Established as a private nursery, under Central Government’s’Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) Programme’, SabzarNurseries is a successful case of ‘diversification’.

   

The landowners of Sabzar Nurseries, who are pioneers of bookpublishing business in the Valley, in 2018 decided to opt for a businessdiversification which according to them any established Srinagar-based businesshouse would have thought twice before doing.

Muhammad Hussain Shah, a former Director of SKUAST and nowproject consultant and adviser for Sabzar Nurseries says the core philosophy ofthis hi-tech nursery apart from producing and supplying good quality plantmaterial of diverse horticulture crops to the farming community, is to empowerthe nearby villages of the nursery.

“Boosting agriculture and horticulture sectors is the needof the hour. The fact that land in Bugam area is fertile for such purposes wasan added benefit to kick start this nursery,” said Shah.

The top management of Sabzar Nurseries is also of theopinion that the factor of shrinking agricultural land was well in their mindwhen in 2018 they decided to develop a barren land acquired by their ancestorsseveral decades ago. “For our group it was important to witness a smoothtransition from the book publishing business to agriculture and horticulturesectors. Since the land was lying barren, we gave it a serious thought ofdiversifying our business to the plant nursery segment,” said a member of thetop management of Sabzar.

He said 40 per cent of their focus is already on the nurserybusiness which they want to achieve an exponential growth in years to come.”High density root stocks and graffitable plants is the unique aspect of SabzarNurseries. We have in the pipeline to produce walnut and almond plants on alarge scale,” says Shah.  

As per Shah the diverse horticulture crops especially pear,apple, almond and walnut, which are true to type with known genetic traits andcertified root stocks, is in the core mandate of Sabzar nurseries.

As per the top management of the group, the first two yearsof establishing Sabzar Nurseries was mainly around making investments. “Nowthat we are in the third year of this business, we have salable plants readyfor sale,” said the management executive.

As per the heads of the group, a lot of focus has been putinto layering stock as part of a long term investment for next 15 years. “Wehave 15 varieties of high density apple grafted plant. The main aim is tooptimize production and productivity per unit area and time together with thearea expansion. We are also keen that there is hassle free availability ofplants having certified root stocks for the agriculturists,” says the visiondocument of Sabzar Nurseries.

While the growth story of Sabzar Nurseries has been quiteprogressive, there have been tough times to face as well. A point in case isthe November 7 snowfall of the last year when the nursery suffered huge losses.”We had 300-400 plants damaged and had submitted the loss assessment to thegovernment for compensation. At that point we spoke up for the entirehorticulture fraternity of the Valley and had urged the government that duecompensation must be paid to those who suffered losses,” said the executive ofthe company.

The executive said Horticulture Department especially theDirector Horticulture has played an important role in the growth anddevelopment of the Sabzar Nursery. The ups and downs aside, mantra to successat Sabzar Nurseries is to not let the zest die down, its top management feels.

In a short span of three years, on the 30 kanals at theBugam nursery, Sabzar has come-up with a state-of-the-art green house facilitywhich is capable to maintain temperature up to 50 degrees Celsius inside toallow growth of the plants. The automatic tillers in the polyhouse ensure leastinterference of manual labour.

Management at the Sabzar Nurseries is keen that employmentgeneration is one the key takeaways of this business. “We have almost 8employees right now but we want to multiply it to almost 50 employees in nextyear or so. It is such as pleasure to watch the laborers and employees puttingin their hard work for the growth and development of the project,” says the topexecutive.

The guided tour at this sprawling facility is incompletewithout watching the vermi-composting unit where Sabzar Nurseries processesindigenous composting matter. “Look, this is an upcoming poultry farm wherewill be getting chicken from outside the Valley which will not be for sale butwill lay eggs and carry out the de-weeding of the nursery which brings down thelabour cost,” says another employee at the nursery.

At this sprawling unit, it is difficult to give a miss tothe organised facilities which have become a part of the Sabzar Nurseries. Thebore well unit, tube well unit, high tech irrigation system and hi tech greenhouses have been set-up in the most systematic order.

As per Shah, Sabzar Nurseries is looking forward to eventssuch as the forthcoming Global Investor Summit where horticulture sector is onethe key focus areas. “Government is in the process of developing nurseriesacross the Valley for which there is need for good plant material. This iswhere a concept such as Sabzar Nurseries can come handy,” Shah says.

As per Shah, Sabzar Nurseries is under the round-the-clockwatch of competent scientists while it has already received multiplecertifications from the Department of Horticulture. “Plants commonly sold inthe market are not quality worthy. We want to change that trend and providevalue for money to the growers and farmers,” says Shah.

In order to ensure this Sabzar Nurseries has installed afarm machinery unit, water storage tank, and bio-toilet blocks. “These toiletsare eco-friendly and its water is recycled for supplemental irrigation. Ourround the clock electricity facility and chain-link fencing is also somethingwhich has added value,” he said.

The nursery which offers a scenic view has three majorblocks which includes layering block, graftable block and grafted block.  “All the stocks are developed from ‘clonal’root stock which is a dwarfing root stock, which grows up to height of 2.5meter and starts bearing fruits from 2-3 years,” Shah says.

He says there are other root stock procured for largermultiplication programme while graftable stock (M9) has been grafted with 15 varietiessuch as Fuji, Scarlet Spur II, Scarlet Spur III, Jeromine, Super Chief , RedlumGala, Red Vilox, Red Chief Cam Spur, Gala Mast, Red Chief, Zen Fuji, Lal Ambri,Early Red One, Golden Delicious Clone B. “Besides, we will also be developing amother orchard including all those elite varieties with a scope to enhancetheir genetic base. We have planted nearly 400 plants of Pear to serve as a budwood bank for area expansion,” says Shah.

These varieties include Starkrimson, Red Anjou, Max RedBartlette, Coscia and Sandy Pear. At the Sabzar Nursery, efforts are also on todevelop almond and walnut plants of promising varieties and its expansionprogramme has been undertaken.

Even as top executives and owners of Sabzar Nurseries showthe visitors the farm around, employees who look upon eagerly are busy in theirdaily chores. “It is a team work and at the end of the day we are happy that weare a part of the Sabzar family,” says an employee at the Bugam nursery.

As per the top management, it is this willingness of theemployees to work as a team which has helped the hi-tech nursery to witness agrowth over last three years. The management is so happy with the results thatit is now pinning a lot of hopes on procuring more land in the nearby area todevelop more nurseries. “We want to involve youngsters in this sector so thatour heritage of horticulture and agriculture is preserved and more youth areattracted to this sector,” says Shah, who believes that horticulture is thebackbone of the Valley and says “let’s all preserve it.”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

four × 2 =