Starting a new venture empowering women in Lucknow, the National Botanical Research Institute has launched a ladies' special training programme on dehydrated floral crafts.

The potpourri sessions have been designed by Department of Scientific & Industrial Research (DSIR) in collaboration with local NGO “Ehsaas” to bolster self-reliance among women. The three-month course will run until September in Lucknow, training 23 women hailing from various UP districts.

A sponsored mission, the Dehydrated Flowers and Foliage for Women Empowerment” aims to open new avenues for employment for women. The idea is to make each of the 23 participating females financially independent, for a self-reliant life. Dr SK Tewari, the Chief Scientist and Principal Investigator of the project, defined the end goal, which is to help women earn money.

Talking about the same, Sachi Singh, social activist and Founder of Ehsaas said that the venture is brings CSIR-NBRI together and the support will not only relay expert training to women, but also open a big market to these women. The final products can be exported out of Lucknow and UP to scale-up the profits.

Going by reports, the training programme is in full swing and the first session in Lucknow was conducted under the supervision of Dr Atul Batra and Dr Shweta Singh of CSIR-NBRI board. This workshop covered the technical details on collection and processing of fresh flowers and foliage.

Notably, experts also demonstrated how dried flowers can be used in preparing greeting cards, landscapes, wall hangings, glass containers, tea coasters and floral jewellery to produce diverse and crafty artefacts. The upcoming sessions, on the other hand, aim to make the entire programme locally sustainable by elaborating on the utilisation of key plants readily available in regional climate.