When we think about saffron, we think about Kashmir but this Nagpur couple is making us rethink all we know about this spice! Nagpur-based couple Akshay Holey and his wife Divya Lohakare Holey are cultivating the world’s most expensive spice without using soil or water in Nagpur’s hot weather. Scroll on to know more about this.
Couple Successfully Bloom Saffron In Nagpur
Akshay Holey, a BBA graduate, and his wife Divya Lohakare Holey, a banker by profession are making headlines for growing saffron in a city known for its hot weather, Nagpur! According to the Times of India, they used an innovative aeroponic technique to produce a yield saffron that helped them generate an impressive annual revenue of ₹50 lakhs!
The couple began a modest experiment in 2020 with a vertically aeroponic 80-square-foot unit on their terrace in the Lok Sewa Nagar area of Nagpur. They wanted to tap into the high demand for saffron, which remains underproduced in the country. To understand more about the growing technique, the couple spent three and a half months in Kashmir. While there, they learnt more about the nuances of traditional saffron farming, before taking in the unconventional method. This gave birth to their venture, Shaya Enterprises.
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More About Their Cultivation Method
Akshay and Divya began with just 100 saffron corms, approximately one kilogram, and managed to produce only a few grams in their first cycle of operations. They then expanded and invested in 350 kg of seeds and managed to produce around 1,600 grams of saffron. They then decided to scale up and set up a 400-square-foot facility in the Hingna area of Nagpur alongside another 480-square-meter unit, according to the Times of India.
In the last two years, their revenue has consistently ranged between ₹40-50 lakhs. Just last year, their output, including partner units, reached 45 kg! As per reports, saffron is harvested between August and December in India. The rest of the year is dedicated to seed cultivation and they use aeroponic machinery to grow this saffron in Nagpur.
Their saffron has been graded by the Saffron Institute of Kashmir and is sold at ₹630 per gram. You can visit their website here online and know more about it.
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So, do you wish to try this saffron grown in Nagpur? Let us know in the comments.
Cover Image Courtesy: Instagram/divya_lohakare & Canva (representative image)
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