At the age of 64, many people would settle into a quiet life of retirement. But for Shubha Bhatnagar, a homemaker from Mainpuri district in Uttar Pradesh, life was just beginning to unfold in a new and exciting direction. After years of raising her children and grandchildren, Shubha found herself with the time and inspiration to pursue a long-held interest: agriculture. Little did she know, this passion turned into a successful saffron farming business, positively impacting not only her family but also the local community. In their second year of saffron cultivation, Shubha and her family produced saffron worth ₹16 lakh last year and expect to significantly increase this in the coming year.
"I have always had an interest in agriculture, but time constraints didn't allow me to explore it fully. Now, free from many responsibilities, I wanted to start something new," Shubha shares.
In 2023, with her grandchildren attending school and her daily responsibilities reduced, Shubha began discussing her idea of growing saffron indoors with her family. Her husband ran a cold storage business, and her son and daughter-in-law were both engineers. The family was initially shocked by her ambition but soon became intrigued.
Over dinner, conversations shifted from daily routines to exploring how saffron, a crop typically grown in the unique soil and climate of Kashmir, could be cultivated indoors in Mainpuri. They began investigating how to recreate the ideal conditions using modern technology, particularly IoT (Internet of Things) to monitor the environment.
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