India: Exporting flowers from Kulgam

Firdous Mir, a 28-year-old florist, landscape designer and floriculture grower, has come a long way. Resident of a non-descript Poniwah village in Kulgam, Mir is an arts graduate and a professionally trained landscape designer. Son of a retired forest department official, Mir first came in the limelight when he creatively designed a Tulip Garden stretching over three Kanals of land at Kulgam last year. “It took the Ghulam Nabi Azad government three years to develop Tulips at the Srinagar Tulip garden,” he says with a smile. “I achieved the same feat in just one year at Kulgam.”

There is a spring in the stride of Mir as he gets out of his car, juggling two mobile handsets to ensure that calls from every client are answered. “I started off with just Rs 5000 which I earned from a coaching center that I was running at Kulgam. Today I am more than happy with my profession,” he says. What started as an ordinary fruit and vegetable growing venture six years ago has now been transformed into a professional floriculture and horticulture firm run by Mir.

With a team of just two members, Mir’s start-up, which started dealing with cut flowers, has developed an impressive list of clientele that includes companies such as Kerala-based Dutch Flower, Delhi-based Unit Holland and Florence Flora in Bengaluru.

Read the full story at Greater Kashmir