A DREAM TRANSFORMED INTO REALITY
As part of the efforts to identify local talent, this week we shall focus on Mr Syed Mukhtar Ahmed.
Syed Mukhtar Ahmad was born in a village called Dedikoot 8 Kms from main town of Kupwara. His father Syed Mohammad Muzaffar was a farmer. His father had four brothers and they lived in a joint family where agriculture, rearing live stocks and grass/ fire wood collection from forest was an essential part of life. Mukhtar was born on 01 Jan 1962, and he has two sisters. His village Dedikoot was the seat of a feudal ruler in the past and hence the name “Koot” is derived from Kot meaning a fort or the seat of authority. During his childhood, agriculture was the main occupation. Young Mukhtar and all his elders worked in paddy fields and orchards, because of this he had developed liking towards agriculture, floriculture and horticulture etc.
After his schooling, he got enrolled in JKP in the year 1982. On completion of training he got posted to the crime interrogation cell at Srinagar. Later he learnt how to handle wireless transmission and worked in Police control Room, Kupwara. During his years in Crime cell and in other branches of Police, he witnessed the rise and fall of militancy in J&K closely. He always felt that social upliftment is one of the means to bring peace and prosperity in the region.
After serving for 25 years in police Department, in the year 2006, he decided to pursue his dream and took voluntary retirement from service as a Head Constable. He started a nursery in year 2007 near his home in Dedikoot. Unlike others, he did not limit himself to traditional farming but he devoted his time and efforts to learn modern ways of farming. He has attended classes/workshops at various agricultural universities across India. Some prominent universities are Punjab Agriculture University at Ludhiana, Institute of Agriculture research under Banaras Hindu University, University of Rajasthan at Jaipur etc. He attended training at Indian Council of Agriculture Research, New Delhi from 2009 to 2015 for two months each year.
He chose the most traditional job to serve the society. All the ingredients of his new job were practiced by society since ages whether it is the Honey Cultivation, Flower plantation, seedling for growing organic vegetables or the plants with medicinal quality. He initially focused on apiculture, and started with five honey bee colonies. At present he has 150 Bee hive colonies. He produces 40 Quintals of honey per year, consumers of his honey includes the Director General of Police J&K, Inspector General of Police Kashmir, Deputy commissioner and other administrative staff of Distt Kupwara, top officials of Central Armed Police Forces and Army along with locals.
He has setup a nursery where he grows seedlings of various Organic vegetables. His seedling vary from seasonal vegetables in summer months to some of the rare species available in India e.g. American Blackberry, Italian Cashew nut etc. He has done experiments on various organic insecticides and pesticides and has given two types of Organic Insecticides and pesticides to SKUAST, as his own researched prototypes. He has done grafting of various varieties of apples, cherry, kiwi, avocado, fig, pears and many other fruits and produced more productive varieties of these.
As per his knowledge there are a total of 5500 varieties of Medicinal plants in J&K. He has knowledge of a local wild plant which is helpful in curing Cancer. This grows naturally in the nearby forest and its seedling can be grown in a flower pot. He is studying about other medicinal plants of the area and doing experiments on their uses.
His work has provided job opportunities to a large no of youth from the area. The job includes work in nurseries, sale of plants, collection, processing and packaging of honey etc. He has trained boys who provide service at doorsteps for cultivation of these plants and flowers. Each year he trains more than 100 families in the area about organic farming. He provides seedlings free of cost to those who cannot afford them. His aim is to teach importance of organic farming to each household in the area. In his words “A country cannot become a super power unless it is not self-sufficient in food supplies”.
His work is been appreciated by all. He accepts that now he is a known face in almost all the villages of Kupwara. This year due to lockdown he could not prepare a full size nursery as other years, but demand is high. He is satisfied to know that people are accepting his work and following his advice. Men can’t be successful in this world if their families are not supportive and same is the case with Syed Mukhtar Ahmad. Both his sons and daughters have completed graduation level education and support him fully.
All of us are blessed with a vision in life only a few have the grit and determination to transform it into reality and Syed Mukhtar Ahmad is one such person. He is an inspiration to many of us, who want to live a meaningful life and want to give back to society, it’s his dream to benefit as many people as possible in his life via the most basic and traditional means.
