The Centre for Floriculture and Agri-Business Management (Cofam), which functions under the North Bengal University (NBU), has taken the initiative to provide hands-on training on gardening and nursery management to women, especially homemakers, in tea estates and villages of Siliguri subdivision.

The aim is to help women explore alternative earning options while sitting at home.

"The initiative has been taken to make them financially self-reliant. They have been trained in gardening and nursery management so that they can grow fruits and flowers and make specialised products which have a steady demand these days,” said Amarendra Kumar Pandey, the practical demonstrator of Cofam.

He said that so far, around 75 women from tea estates and villages in Naxalbari, Matigara and Phansidewa blocks have attended the training.

“It is an ongoing process. In the coming days, we will encourage more women to join the training to develop their skills,” he added.

He said that the women have been trained to grow strawberries, dragonfruit and mushrooms. This apart, they are learning to grow plants in glass bottles, dye flowers, plan nursery management and the basics of food processing, nutritional kitchen gardening and landscaping.

“After the training, they can make their nurseries in a small space in their homs. These days, the demand for indoor plants is very high. If a woman invests ₹10,000 to make a nursery at her home space, the investment can grow and the turnover can go up to ₹3 lakh in a couple of years,” said Pandey.

The department of women's studies at NBU has also joined hands with Cofam to impart the training.

Dalia Bhattacharya, the head of the department, said the initiative can be effective for women dwelling in rural areas of the Siliguri subdivision.

“We are training them skills to grow fruits, plants and products that have steady demand in Siliguri and they can merchandise their products easily for decent earnings,” she said.

“If more and more rural women get engaged with such practices, it will help in the socio-economic development of their areas,” Bhattacharya added.

Debasis Dutta, the head of Cofam and the officiating registrar of NBU, said some trainees could even find jobs in nurseries and plantations as trained farmers.

“Many farmers in the region are cultivating exotic fruits, flowers and other cash crops. These women, with their knowledge of gardening and nursery management, can also find jobs in such plantations,” said Dutta.