Srinagar: An entrepreneur has given a new identity to Kashmiri walnut by providing customised packaging to the growers in Shopian, Kulgam, Anantnag and Pulwama.
Mir Iqbal (34), who has studied Masters in Mass Communications and Journalism at University of Kashmir, started his own venture under the name Mir Agro Farms in 2019.
His concept was to package honey in small sachets at Rs 5 to make it both easy to carry and affordable to the people.
The idea was listed as the innovative concept by Khadi Village Industries Board (KVIB. The KVIB sanctioned him a loan of Rs 10 lakhs in 2019 under National Honey Mission.
“I formally started in 2019 by setting up a small unit at Shopian after procuring all the necessary machinery from Delhi. My aim was to make quality honey affordable and easy to carry to all by packaging them into small sachets,” Iqbal said.
As he started, the Covid pandemic struck, leaving him in multiple challenges. But despite odds, Iqbal sailed through…two years on, Iqbal has not looked back but has been able to diversify his business from honey to dry-fruits, dates, berries etc.
“In the last financial year, we had a turnover of Rs 1.75 Cr,” he said.
Iqbal has been able to provide employment to six other people.
This year, Iqbal has added locally produced walnuts on his packaging list.
What made Iqbal to venture into the walnut pricing industry has an interesting story.
“A friend of mine called me in late July this year. He was worried and informed me to look for buyers for his walnut produce as he was not able to find prospective buyers. Since he needed money for his marriage. This clicked my mind and I thought why not to buy and package it locally. So, I gave it a try. I purchased, processed and packaged it in different types of grades and mix,” Iqbal said, adding, it worked as the whole produce of some 300 kilograms was consumed in the local market by supplying it to local outlets, marts, shopping malls etc in different types of packages and qualities.
According to Iqbal, he started reaching out to other walnut growers in parts of south Kashmir and to do the customised packaging. “So far we have packaged 700 kilograms of kernel and sold it to different outlets, departmental stores, bakery shops, government functions and other functions,” Iqbal said.
He said they have also done grading of walnuts with shells.
“Growers would normally sell their walnut produce in bulk in outside markets like in Jammu and Jalandhar. The customised packaging has helped to sell the product locally,” Iqbal added.
Iqbal said this has also added value to the regional identity of walnuts. “Like Shopian apple is considered as a premium quality, similarly, the walnuts from Kokernag area are considered as good quality walnuts. So we packaged and sold them as premium quality. The idea is we have been able to diversify the walnut in different types of packages, which otherwise was not being done here,” said Iqbal.
Iqbal believes that if everything remains stable, in the years to come the growers need not to sell their produce at lower rates in outside markets. “The way it works presently, we would be able to package a huge chunk of walnuts and get it consumed locally and sent to the national and international market as well,” he said.
