In Kashmir, many young rural women are embracing farming, transforming their aspirations into reality with resilience, innovation, and determination. Their journey serves as an inspiration, highlighting self-reliance, sustainability, and economic empowerment in the region’s evolving agricultural landscape.
Among them is Seerat Mansoor Mattoo, a BSc Botany student at Cluster University Kashmir and a resident of Kandhama, is leading by example. Inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Mann Ki Baat program, she set up a floriculture nursery under the Holistic Agriculture Development Program (HADP) Jammu and Kashmir government.
She has established it in Mazhama village along the bustling Srinagar-Tangmarg highway. Though new to the field, she envisions not only cultivating a vibrant array of flowers but also generating sustainable employment opportunities for others.
With a deep passion for medicinal flowers, she dreams of transforming floriculture into a profitable, community-driven enterprise.
She firmly believes that if more educated women step into agriculture, it can become a powerful tool for economic independence and societal upliftment, proving that farming is more than just a livelihood—it’s a beacon of empowerment and change.
Another young woman, Mobina Akther, a farmer from the Boombadi area of Batote in Ramban district, has set a remarkable example by establishing mushroom, marigold, and desi poultry farming. She said she started all this after her marriage, receiving training through SBI training programs.
Now, she has reaped the benefits of her desi poultry unit and plans to expand it further. “It has a very good market, and we earn a profitable income,” she said.
Mobina is passionate about empowering women, especially those who rarely leave their homes. “I believe in women’s empowerment, which is why I chose agriculture as my avenue,” she added.
The 30-year-old woman also leads a self-help group (SHG) of 3,800 women involved in training programs and benefiting from various agriculture and horticulture schemes.
After she set up her farm in the village, many women were inspired to follow in her footsteps, establishing similar farms in their own villages. These women also benefitfrom the SHG, selling their produce with her assistance.
“For women, farming is the most suitable profession as they can earn while staying at home. Jobs are scarce, but when women become self-sufficient, they can lead a happy life. I started from zero, and today, I earn a good income,” she said.
Shazia Bano, a progressive and integrated farmer from Shopian, has transformed her life through multiple farming activities, including dairy, vegetable cultivation, poultry, and fisheries.
She participated in the G20 Summit in Srinagar as a progressive farmer. She had the opportunity to interact with Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a successful entrepreneur. Earlier this year, she received the Innovative Women Innovator Award in Punjab.
An award-winning integrated farmer, Shazia was also honored with the Progressive Farmer Award by the Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir in 2023.
A mother of two, Shazia has transitioned from traditional to modern horticulture and has reaped significant benefits. “Earlier, women’s efforts in farming were hardly recognized. We need to shift to modern farming, which is more profitable. Machines have made farming easier,” she said.
