A five day workshop on “Value Addition of Floricultural Crops for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship” under CSIR Floriculture Mission concluded at CSIR-IIIM, Branch Srinagar under the patronage of Dr Zabeer Ahmed, Director, CSIR-IIIM and Er. Abdul Rahim, Head CSIR-IIIM (Br.) Srinagar.75 participants from self help groups of JKRLM, floriculture technocrats, and aspiring entrepreneurs were imparted hands on training on various aspects of value addition of flowers like Dry Floral Technology, Floral Arrangements like bouquets, box bouquet making and table arrangements, Floral Resin Art, Flower Pressing, Floral Jewellery Making and Flower Press Printing.Apart from the hands-on training, the participants during the course of the workshop were actively involved in the project making cum competition in the said categories and winners and runner ups were also judged by an expert jury. Exhibits of the various floral specimens made by the participants in each category were also showcased.

The valedictory session of the workshop was attended by Dr Imtiyaz T. Nazki, Head, Floriculture and Landscaping, SKUAST-K, Dr Nasheeman Ashraf, Principal Scientist, CSIR IIIM, Dr Shahid Rasool, Nodal Scientist, CSIR Floriculture Mission, Farooq Ahmad Mir, Prominent Floriculturist, Nasir Ali Khan, Radio Personality and Social Media Influencer and District Programme Managers of JKRLM of Srinagar, Pulwama and Budgam.Nasir Ali Khan, while speaking at the event commended the organizers for conceiving a unique workshop wherein the utilization of flowers can be imagined beyond their traditional use. He also gave a detailed presentation on the use and importance of social media as a powerful tool for enterprise promotion. He made the participants familiar with approaches to leverage social media to help them better understand the algorithm of search engines.Dr Imtiyaz Nazki in his address appreciated the CSIR FLoriculture Mission team for their efforts to conduct first of its kind of workshop on value addition of flowers in which all possible facets in the sector were covered for skill and capacity building of the trainees and further informed that other skill based aspects like bonsai and terrarium making should also be introduced in such trainings in future.

In his address Dr Shahid Rasool informed the participants about the various verticals of CSIR Floriculture Mission being implemented in the country and the accomplishments made in the last three years.He also informed that in conformity with the clarion call of Prime Minister for doubling farmers income and self sufficient India and able guidance of Dr Jitendra Singh, Minister Science and Technology to enhance the ecosystem for agri-tech startups such entrepreneurial programmes have been designed envisaging greater engagement of youth particularly women in floriculture sector.Er. Maliqa Majid gave a detailed lecture on formulation of innovative projects for attracting investors in the pitch decks.Later in the event, certificates were distributed among the winners of the various contests, participants and the organizing team were felicitated by the dignitaries for the successful conduct of the workshop.