As I said Daffodil was more of a hobby, a garden made by my father. Initially the daily income was hardly Rs 50 to Rs 100 but slowly it picked up to Rs 1000 by 1996. Now we have an area of 70 bighas and we are accredited to Central Institute of Horticulture (CIH) with a two star rating. This means that we have quality planting material certified by CIH. At present we have 19 mother plants including mother plant varieties of mangoes, guavas, lychees, lemons, kiwi, etc.
Entrepreneur Dhruba Jyoti Sarma took his first steps in Daffodil Nursery and graduated from the Daffodil College of Horticulture. For the Zoology professor of Dimoria College, the building blocks of his roaring business have been plants – flowers, fruits and vegetables -- and his vision – the building of human resources which will populate this segment vis his Daffodil College of Horticulture. Owner of the largest nurseries in the North East, Daffodil Nursery boasts of a two star rating from Central Institute of Horticulture and houses the topmost plant material in the region. Excerpts from an interview:
Please tell us about your family and educational background
I was born in Dimoria, Khetri, in Kamrup district. I studied Zoology Honours in Bajali College and did my Masters from Cotton College in 1992. My father, Gopinath Sarma, who originally belonged to Pathsala was a teacher of Dimoria High School. He was better known as the founder of Dimoria College, as he worked hard to establish this college. My mother Purnima Devi belonged to Tangla and was a homemaker. I was the fourth among six siblings, three brothers and three sisters. I have two children, a son and a daughter. My wife Rekha Sarma, a teacher at Dimoria belonged to Jagiroad. At present I am an Associate Professor and Head of the Zoology Department of Dimoria College. I also run the Daffodil Nursery at Khetri.
You are known as a pioneer in the field of nurseries. Please tell us how the Daffodil Nursery started?
My father started the nursery as a hobby in 1984-85 and I was associated after completing my Masters in 1992. My father died in 1996 after which I went it alone. At that time everything was small scale. Like I said it was more of a pastime than an enterprise.
As Daffodil Nursery mostly has to do with plants did you take any training to expand the enterprise.
Yes, I took training in the Horticulture department of the Assam Agricultural University in Jorhat. I also visited several such nurseries in in Bangalore, Pune , Andhra Pradesh and Calcutta. I stayed in these places for eight to ten days to see how nurseries are developed and what the position of the nurseries were in those states in comparison to Assam. I also took exposure trips to the Dubai Miracle Gardens in 2016 and to Thailand in 2018.
Tell us more about how Daffodil Nursery was expanded and the economics of this venture
As I said Daffodil was more of a hobby, a garden made by my father. Initially the daily income was hardly Rs 50 to Rs 100 but slowly it picked up to Rs 1000 by 1996. Now we have an area of 70 bighas and we are accredited to Central Institute of Horticulture (CIH) with a two star rating. This means that we have quality planting material certified by CIH. We are eligible to supply these to any government agencies. At present we have 19 mother plants including mother plant varieties of mangoes, guavas, lychees, lemons,kiwi, etc.
We have about 9000 mother planting materials of flowers, fruits, ornamental and medicinal plants out of which you will find 4000 varieties at any given time. At present everything is taken care of by my wife Rekha, who left her job at Dimoria College, to devote herself fulltime to this venture.
Three hundred families are directly associated with the nursery and 700 are indirectly engaged.
Moreover, we have adopted two adjoining villages. We buy the saplings from the farmers of these villages. Many of the villagers who earlier used to eke out a living by manufacturing hooch are now finding it more profitable to supply us with saplings. In this way we have also made a social difference.
While we have about four to five lakh customers to whom we sell in retail, the bulk is sold to about 700 plus new nurseries associated with us in the north east including Manipur, Nagaland, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Sikkim and also West Bengal. We some times set up their nurseries and even buy material from them. We also export saplings mostly of fruit and ornamental plant varieties to Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal. Last year we also exported plant materials to Philippines.
Regarding investment we have over the years invested about Rs 50 crore for irrigation, power supply, setting up greenhouses, procuring planting materials, agricultural equipment, accessories, etc,
What are your other ventures and projects?
We are into greenhouse making, landscaping and also conduct trainings in how to grow various plants in a scientific manner. Greenhouses which have controlled temperatures allow cultivators to grow and preserve off season plants which would have otherwise have died.
We also do landscaping. Among our landscaping projects are the Jorhat Airport at Rowriah, Gauhati High Court, Guwahati IIT, the War Memorial, the Raj Bhawan, in fact the maximum number of landscaping projects in Guwahati have been done by us. Though I have not done any formal course in landscaping, but have learnt on the job and one also needs to have a sense of beauty and layout.
Another important work that we do is train students and youths in horticulture. These days several colleges have Horticulture courses an we have signed MoUs with these colleges, We conduct training programmes in these colleges as well as take Botany classes if required. Apart from the colleges different institutes also take training g from us. We also conduct seminars.
Another project we started in 2021 is the Daffodil College of Horticulture which offers an undergraduate degree in the subject.
Tell us more about the Daffodil College of Horticulture and why did you start it?
The Daffodil College of Horticulture is the first private college in horticulture in the state. It was begun in 1921 and offers a four year BSc degree in the subject. It is affiliated to the Assam Science and Technology University. We have an intake of 25 students and 16 faculty. In fact my son is a sixth semester student of the institute. The college was inaugurated by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma in the presence of MPs Queen Oja, Kamakhya Prasad Tasa, Pradan Baruah. Education Minister Dr Ranoj Pegu and Dispur (Kamrup Metro) MLA Atul Bora among others.
The need was felt to build up human resources in the horticulture and agriculture sectors as the youths were moving away from the land seeking white collar jobs which are viewed as better paying and more secure. In this regard I would also like to quote the message written by my wife Rekha, who is the Chairperson of the College: `The courses offered at Daffodil College of Horticulture promise exciting and rewarding opportunities that ensure positive job avenues in various fields. At Daffodil, we are emphasising primarily on quality education and learning in an unique natural environment. We also lay stress on high-tech laboratory work in the new areas of horticulture and processing technologies. We have a vision to deliver the nationally and globally relevant curricula maintaining a personalised learning environment with a student centred approach taking the guidelines of Vth Deans Committee recommendations as the basis.’
Basically we would like to draw the youth back to horticulture and agriculture and state of art food processing technologies, all of which have huge scope in Assam.
The Dean of our College is Hemen Bhattacharjee, former Director of Extension Education, Assam Agricultural University and our mentor is KM Bujarbaruah, former Deputy Director of ICAR, Delhi and former vice Chancellor of Assam Agricultural University.
From this year we have also started an undergraduate degree course in Agriculture and admissions will soon take place. What are the challenges you face in the nursery and in running the college?
There are the climactic factors like flash floods due to the runoff from the Jaintia Hills behind the nursery especially during the monsoons which uproots the plants. While some plants, especially the delicate ones get destroyed others have to be retrieved and replanted. Another challenge we face is elephant depredations which happen on and off. We do not face a monkey menace except for a section of the nursery. In running of the College the greatest challenge is admission of students. Parents are hesitant about admitting their wards in a private institution. Few see the potential that horticulture holds.
How did you tide over the Covid 19 pandemic?
During the Covid 19 pandemic period we faced losses. Some of our consignment orders were cancelled. The seasonal flowere We had to pay full wages to our 300 employees and there was no sale. Moreover, in eight villages adjoining our nursery we distributed relief. We also donated Rs 4 lakh to the CM’s relief fund. Some how we made do for one year of the pandemic.
What are the awards you have received?
I have been conferred the honorary Doctor of Science degree by the Assam Agricultural University in 2019 and the Krishak Kalakar title by Downtown University in 2021.
I have also been nominated for the Assam Government’s highest civilian award – the Assam Gaurav award.
What are your future plans?
There are many diversification plans – all would be in the agriculture sector. We would also like to integrate fisheries and forestry as components of the nursery. Another plan is to upgrade Daffodil Horticulture College into a full fledged University.
What advice would you like to give to the upcoming generation of youths in our state
I would like to tell our youths to take to agriculture in a big way. Given the huge population in our country – we are set to be largest population in the world in the next ten years -- so we should unite and work for food security not only for ourselves but also for the whole world. Agriculture if undertaken in a scientific manner with latest agricultural technologies can give a minimum 20 to 25 return and more. It was seen that during the pandemic period it was only agriculture that thrived and all other industries went into the red.
Apart from agriculture there is also huge potential in the post production food processing sector. The youths should be motivated to come and toil on their soil and reap rich rewards. Agriculture is no longer a back breaking work as it once was. but dedication, hard work and perseverance should be the watchwords when one embarks on any venture. One should also be passionate about what one wants to do.
Would you like to tell something to our readers
I am a regular reader of The Sentinel. I would like to thank the newspaper for giving so much news and information to its readers.
Grew to a 70 bigha enterprise. You are traini9ng in different places
Assam honorary Doctor of Science. 2019, Assam Gaurav nominated for Assam Gaurav, highest civialian award.
Course BSC Horticulture and this year Agricutlture students will be admitted. Faculty from norms 16 regular and Dean Dr Hemen Bhattacharjee, retired Assam Agricultural University, scientist Mentor KM Bujarbaruah