Defying convention, she turned entrepreneur in Kashmir!

Ashna Ambre

Kashmir is working towards making women of the state less confined to domestic chores and creating opportunities for them to be self-reliant. The Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) State Women's Development Corporation (WDC) launched the Empowering Skilled Young Women Scheme in 2010 to encourage women to establish their own ventures in the Valley. However, some entrepreneurial efforts by women began a decade before these provisions came through.

Going Against The Norms

Nusrat Jahan, a girl from the Dadoora district in Kashmir, graduated in 1998 with a bachelor's degree in computers from Indira Gandhi National Open Univeristy (IGNOU) after which she got a job in the Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) Urban Development department as a community organiser. Jahan lived a life that many women in the Valley would crave for, but she had other dreams to fulfill. Seeing her father run a small electronics retail business, she had always thought of starting something on her own. "In Kashmir, an educated girl works in government agencies, small companies or gets employed at boutiques or parlours. A woman wanting to start up her own venture is very rare and not accepted well in society because it involves a lot of interaction with men," says Jahan.

Coming from a family that placed emphasis on education, Jahan was supported in her decision to quit her job in 2000 and start her own venture Petals Agritech Pvt. Ltd. Despite being a computer graduate, something broadly related to agriculture seemed to be the only feasible option for her. The decision stemmed after considering the local demographic, cultural and weather conditions of Kashmir. "Commercial floriculture was not quite prevalent in the state a decade ago. It did not have many players in the market and I thought there was a potential," says Jahan.

Setting Up A Business

Jahan took baby steps by organizing a fresh flower exhibition cum sale in late 2000 at a rented venue in a hotel. She sourced flowers worth Rs. 40,000 from a friend cum supplier in Delhi on credit. "The response to the idea of selling fresh flowers in the state was very good," recalls Jahan. She was approached by many government agencies for contracts.

"In 2001, the Jammu and Kashmir Bank gave me an annual contract of Rs. 1 lakh for flower arrangements for all its functions. It was the biggest opportunity for me," says Jahan. The demand increased to a level where it became difficult to meet it. Jahan began small scale cultivation in her backyard and also increased the volume of imports from Delhi. However, importing the flowers, transportation and other logistics costs were eating into her margins. Cultivation in her backyard was also not a viable option in the long run. Hence, in 2002, Jahan took up four farms in the Budgam district of the state on lease and employed four farmers to grow gladiolus locally on the basis of contract farming.

Broadening Her Horizon

The wedding and events industry suddenly picked up in 2004 and there was not only demand for flowers but other things associated with decorations. "People wanted very high quality and well designed arrangements. But I did not have in-depth knowledge and so I decided to set up the Fern N Petals franchise outlet, the first ever in the entire state," says Jahan.

Once Jahan had an integrated management process in place for the retail outlet, she diverted most of her attention towards farming in 2007. Moving away from rented farms, she bought two farms for floral farming. Today she grows a wide variety of flowers that include tulips, gladiolus during winters and carnations, lilies and gerberas during  summer.

Gradually she expanded the scope of farming to exotic vegetables, spices and herbs by the end of 2008. "It was only post-2008 that trout farming was opened up to the private sector. I was keen to start a fish farming business and approached the government for approvals to set it up" recollects Jahan.

"In such difficult conditions, Nusrat  has established a business and is a great inspiration for other women," says Anil Sharma, Vice President, Retail and Franchise, Ferns N Petals.

Spring Bloom

Jahan explains that things are changing in the valley and she is trying to tap into every opportunity. She has started taking contracts for employing people for housekeeping services in hospitals, local offices and hotels.

Jahan is quite determined to get technical expertise in farming and set up a greenhouse for which she has taken a loan of  Rs. 1.25 crore from J&K Bank. In addition to this, in 2012, she collaborated with a company from the Netherlands to get technology, hybrid seeds for better grade of vegetable farming and trout breeding. Her turnover from all businesses put together crosses about Rs. 4 crore annually.

"I think Kashmir as a state has a lot of potential, especially in the floriculture sector," says Jahan. "We can compete with most of the imported variety of flowers. Adequate government schemes and education in this sector are the need of the hour," she points  out.

Jahan should know. For with education alone she has scaled new heights. Coupled with education and government schemes, the state can help more women become entrepreneurs, thus breaking the traditional glass ceiling and helping them make it in the largely male bastion of business in the state.

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