Srinagar, J&K
For Syed Shazia Lateef, the COVID-19 pandemic was an eye opener. What she saw around her in her village of Moloo Chitragam in Shopian district, South Kashmir, made her switch careers. From a lawyer, the 31-year-old became a farmer.
“When the entire world pulled down its shutters during the pandemic, I realised that it barely had any impact on my family. We had plenty of food as my husband’s family is into farming. Poultry, dairy, vegetables, fish, fruits were all homegrown and we faced no shortage,” Lateef told Gaon Connection.
The fact that being self sustaining meant being safe from any disruptions like the pandemic the world might throw up, got the young lawyer thinking.
Today, Lateef, a lawyer by education and training, cultivates both conventional and exotic vegetables in her 4.37 acres farm (1 acre = 0.4 hectare) and also provides employment to 10 other local people.
Her farm is located in Gadbugh Napora village, six kilometres away from her village, in the adjacent Pulwama district. And the annual profit from it is nearly 25 lakh rupees (Rs 2.5 million), she said.
In 2020, when nationwide lockdown brought everything to a screeching halt, Lateef began to experiment with integrated farming.
Her farm is today a classroom for other farmers who come there to learn about innovative and integrated farming techniques. Annually about 200 quintals of vegetables are grown at the farm.
Last year, in 2022, the produce from Lateef’s farm was exported to the UAE through the agriculture department.
“We provided training to Lateef, and she has modernised and introduced effective innovations in her farm. The Agriculture Department has exported the vegetables to the UAE,” Nazir Ahmad Bhat, the agricultural extension officer, told Gaon Connection.
“The high-quality produce from her farm has not just boosted the local agricultural market but also brought recognition to the region’s sustainable farming practices on an international level,” he added.
The journey to farming
In 2020, when nationwide lockdown brought everything to a screeching halt, Lateef began to experiment with integrated farming.
Integrated farming includes growing crops, rearing livestock, pisciculture, and allied activities. It ensures that if crops fail due to a reason, there are other modes of earnings.
With some guidance from the elders in the family, Lateef began to grow exotic vegetables like nadur (lotus stem), broccoli, kiwi, grapes, and plums.
“With guidance from the agriculture department, I also ventured into backyard poultry, rabbitry, and fish farming, focusing on trout and carp. This diversification earned higher returns,” she said.
Lateef grows apples on 15 kanals (1.87 acres), has grape, plum, and kiwi orchards covering 5 kanals (0.625 acres), and also cultivates pulses and sweet corn and a variety of vegetables.
Her livestock includes broiler poultry, chicken breeds such as Van Raja, Kadaknath, Rhode Island Red, that are raised for eggs, guinea fowl, turkeys, and rabbits.
Lateef also has fish farms with 10,000 fingerlings for trout and 5,000 fingerlings for carp. A dairy unit produces vermicompost and compost, which is used in her farm.
Along with her husband, Lateef is constantly doing research and finding even better and more innovative ways to enhance her farm.
Also Read: Dairy Farming Gets a Fillip in Shopian, Kashmir
But, it wasn’t an easy journey. “The biggest challenge for me was capital. I needed money to venture into vermicompost production and bring birds into the farm,” narrated Lateef.
“I sold my jewellery and faced a lot of flak for it. Many people told me I was being foolish giving up my law practice and taking up farming,” she recalled. But, Lateef managed to collect Rs 10 lakh and invested it to begin her project.
Providing employment to others
The integrated farm generates an approximate total annual turnover of four crore rupees (Rs 40 million). After accounting for expenses, including salaries to workers, the farm yields a combined annual profit of around Rs 25 lakhs, the lawyer-turned-farmer said.
“Our integrated farming unit now employs 10 full-time workers who receive a monthly salary of Rs 10,000 each. They have helped improve our farm’s productivity and also found a means of livelihood here,” said Lateef.
Today, Lateef, a lawyer by education and training, cultivates both conventional and exotic vegetables in her 4.37 acres farm (1 acre = 0.4 hectare) and also provides employment to 10 other local people.
Also Read: Cow’s That! — She Invested Rs 17,000 To Buy A Cow And Now Runs A Flourishing Dairy Business
Shazia’s husband Gulbudin Ahmad Mir who is a government law officer, said he was incredibly proud of his wife. “Her dedication and determination has transformed our farm and the lives of so many people,” he told Gaon Connection.
Mir recalled how the family had faced severe setbacks in their poultry farming on account of an increase in price of feed and increase in labour charges. “We lost almost 20 lakh rupees last year. Had we depended entirely on poultry, we would have had to shut down business. But because Lateef practises integrated farming, we were able to overcome the loss,” he said.
Along with her husband, Lateef is constantly doing research and finding even better and more innovative ways to enhance her farm.
Currently, the couple is experimenting with Azolla, a water fern that can have various applications in sustainable agriculture. It is a nutritious feed for poultry and fish, and by growing it the farmers can ensure a steady supply of feed, said Lateef.
