Kulgam man quits job to manage plant nurseries

Kulgam, Dec 28: In southern Kashmir, a farmer’s initiative is creating employment opportunities for numerous youths.
His skilful management of plant nurseries have led to the flourishing of hundreds of orchards across the picturesque region.
Mushtaq Ahmad Bhat, the nurseryman hailing from Qaimoh Kulgam, quit his government job and now grows over 2 lakh fruit plants every year, providing jobs to many people. He grows nearly 150 types of fruit plants and sells them to people all across Kashmir.
He said the nursery covers an area of 60 to 70 kanals, where about 20 to 30 people work daily, making a living for themselves. We produce around 2 lakh plants each season, including room stock and budding – which are the grafted plants. We have similar kinds of nurseries in other areas as well.
“We aim to use more land, expanding it to 300 kanals. We ask the government to give us advice on better projects or schemes. This way, we can create more jobs for others and grow the best possible fruit-bearing plants,” he said.
He said, “we make a good living and also support the people we employ in this nursery. We have many different types of plants here. We produce over hundreds of different varieties of plants in these nurseries.”
He further said that he used to work as a government employee, but he left that job to pursue his passion and love for plants. He believes that working with plants is beneficial for the environment and society.