Can soil-less farming revive a Kashmiri rice variety on the verge of extinction?

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Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Kulgam, Kashmir: Zahoor Ahmad Reshi stands by his field, watching over his crop of Mushk Budji—a fragrant, short-grain rice native to Kashmir. Once a regional staple, this prized rice variety has teetered on the edge of extinction for decades, but Reshi is determined to bring it back.

And he's doing it in a way few could have imagined: through vertical, soil-less farming. A researcher at Kashmir’s Department of Agriculture, Reshi has adopted a method that offers fresh hope for reviving Mushk Budji, a rice revered for its unique aroma but nearly wiped out by a devastating fungal disease in the 1960s. Once popular across Kashmir, its cultivation is now limited to Sagam village in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district.

Read this | Why Kashmir’s saffron growers are feeling blue “Just last year, I began cultivating Mushk Budji on my rooftop," Reshi says, beaming. This May, he took it a step further and started vertical farming on his land, aiming to turn it into a commercial venture. "In my first year, I achieved an abundant yield of this premium rice variety, which means my income will triple," he adds.

Vertical farming, typically reserved for exotic vegetables, is rarely used for rice. But for Reshi, it’s the future of agriculture in Kashmir, where arable land is shrinking, and traditional farming faces mounting challenges. Mushk Budji, a rice once synonymous with Kashmir’s culinary identity, was on the brink of disappearing entirely after being ravaged by blast disease.