The Floriculture industry is emerging as a profitable business in many parts of the world, like the USA, Europe, Japan and India. The flower business is blooming in majority areas of India like Assam, Karnataka, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir. In India the flower industry caters to a huge domestic market and provides livelihoods to workers and farmers in rural areas for several months in a year. Keeping in view the challenges of the horticulture sector in the country, the Government of India (GOI) and the state governments are implementing many schemes and initiatives for the future of the industry.
India is bestowed with several agro-climatic zones conducive for production of sensitive and delicate floriculture products. During the decade after liberalisation floriculture industries took giant steps in the export arena. This era has seen a dynamic shift from sustenance production to commercial production. As per National Horticulture Database (Second Advance Estimates) published by National Horticulture Board, during 2019-20 the area under floriculture production in India was 305,000 hectares with a production of 2301,000 tonnes loose flowers and 762,000 tonnes cut flowers. Floriculture is now commercially cultivated in several states with Andhra Pradesh (19.1 per cent), Tamil Nadu (16.6 per cent), Madhya Pradesh (11.9 per cent) having gone ahead of other producing states like Karnataka, West Bengal, Mizoram, Gujarat, Orissa, Jharkhand, Haryana, Assam and Chhattisgarh.
Floriculture is becoming a popular business where the Government of India has identified it as a sunrise industry and accorded it 100 per cent export-oriented status. As per Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), the commercial floriculture has higher potential per unit area than most of the field crops and is therefore a lucrative business. The Indian floriculture industry has been shifting from traditional flowers to cut flowers for export purposes.
Floriculture in North-East region
North East Himalayas regions are endowed with rich natural resources, congenial climate, sufficient land and cheap labour that make these areas extremely conducive to floriculture. Therefore, the government has recognised floriculture as an extreme focus segment for development initiatives in the NE region.
- With a vision to transform the State into the flower state of India, the Government of Meghalaya launched the Floriculture Development Scheme. Supported by Technology Mission Scheme, it was decided in a State level Departmental meeting that Floriculture Development Scheme (State Plan) will support the floriculture farmers in terms of infrastructure with a minimum area of 100 sqm as per Government of India rates. The scheme envisions to create a demand for the ornamental crops such as orchids, Chrysanthemums, Gerberas, Carnations, Liliums, Strelitzia reginae, Gladiolus, Statice, Gomphrena, Helichyrsums, Roses and other kinds of flowering shrubs and house plants. The scheme targets at encouraging and assisting the entrepreneurs and farmers in taking up the floriculture activities. The scheme was introduced with the objective of encouraging farmers in growing non-traditional and ornamental floral crops for commercial purpose; assisting the farmers with the financial aids in cultivating the floral crops; expanding the area for floriculture activities under the Technology Mission Scheme and to encourage entrepreneurs and promote the export of ornamental plants.
- Horticulture Mission for North East and Himalayan States (HMNEH), a part of Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) scheme, was implemented for overall development of Horticulture in NE and Himalayan states. The mission addresses the entire spectrum of horticulture from production to consumption through backward and forward linkages. Further, the scheme covers all NE States including Sikkim and three Himalayan states of Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
- On the recommendation of National Research Centre for Orchid (NRCO), APEDA has suggested North East states to emphasise on floriculture for a vibrant rural economy. APEDA sanctioned Rs 7.65 crores exclusively for floriculture in North‐east states and asked the state governments to chalk out a master plan for it.
“The region offers good scope for cultivation of a wide variety of flowers because of its diversities in topography, congenial agro‐climatic conditions coupled with fertile soil and well‐ distributed rainfall which ensure year‐round production of tropical and subtropical flowers,” opined APEDA, General Manager Pravin Gupta.
Director of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), Dr Narendra Pratap Singh commented that since the region is Christian and Hindu dominated, who traditionally use flowers for religious and other activities, there is a gap between demand and supply of flowers in the domestic markets while the UAE, the UK and Japan have good demand of Northeast orchids and flowers.
Floriculture development in Karnataka
Floriculture offers huge employment opportunities in both production and selling lines, where states like Karnataka, which is the first to have a separate horticulture department, is developing the floriculture sector.
- Under the National Horticulture Mission (NHM) which is a Centrally sponsored scheme to develop horticulture to the maximum potential available in the states, 15 districts of Karnataka are covered since 2005-2006. NHM provides holistic growth of the horticulture sector through an area based regionally differentiated strategies; enhance horticulture production, improve nutritional security and income support to farm households and create opportunities for employment generation for skilled and unskilled persons, especially unemployed youth.
- Introduced in 2012-2013, Comprehensive Horticulture Development (CHD) scheme provides end to end solutions to the farmers. Under this scheme, 2-3 villages in each sub block are selected and Farmer Interest Groups (FIGS) are formed which are then provided with all latest technologies including quality seedlings, water harvesting structure, mulching, high density planting with canopy management, training and exposure visit, Post-Harvest Management (PHM) and market linkages to farming communities.
- Further, the Karnataka Agro-Industries Corporation Limited (KAIC), with a view to providing domestic market for high-tech flowers, established a permanent auction house for flowers in its premises in October 15, 1995, in association with the South India Floriculturists Association (SIFA) and Karnataka Flower Growers’ Marketing and Processing Co-operative Society. The basic objective of the centre is to promote high-tech flowers, maintaining transparency in operation and facilitating direct link between the buyers and sellers.
- The Government of Karnataka initiated several measures for the overall development of floriculture, such as, The Agricultural Policy of Karnataka 1995, which has identified floriculture as the sunrise industry and The Amendment of Land Reforms Act 1961.
- Moreover, Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB) and APEDA have planned to set up an International Flower Auction Centre on the lines of Aalsmeer Flower Auction, the Netherlands.
Floriculture in Haryana gets a boost
Keeping in view the emerging challenges in the field of horticulture and to provide nutritional security to the masses the horticulture department, governmnet of Haryana with a vision “To make Haryana Modern Fruit and Vegetable Cultivation State with a vision to lead in domestic and export market”, the state took for initiatives.
- New schemes of National Horticulture Mission, Micro-Irrigation and National Mission on Medicinal Plants have been launched. Major activities initiated under National Horticulture Mission are the area expansion under fruits, flowers, spices, creation of water resources – community tanks and post-harvest management and marketing infrastructure.
- Development of the best integration model in India by integrating the components of community tank, orchard plantation and micro-irrigation and emulated by other States.
- Tremendous impetus to the post-harvest management and marketing of fruits and vegetables and got sanctioned projects to the tune of Rs 67.00 crore and of Rs 170.00 crores in 2006-07 and 2009-10. The facilities created are collection centres, pack houses, grading units and wholesale markets.
- Further, the Haryana government has recently joined hands with the company based in the Netherlands to start up a Centre of Excellence for Flowers in Jhajjar district. The project has been initiated in order to promote the floriculture industry among farmers in the state and to create newer employment opportunities.
Central Government initiatives
To promote the industry and introduce potential in the floriculture sector, the government of India has started offering many subsidy schemes/initiatives ensuring institutional infrastructure to the farmers.
As a stepping stone, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) Floriculture Mission has been approved for implementation in 21 States and Union Territories of India wherein available knowledge base in CSIR Institutes will be utilised and leveraged to help Indian farmers and industry re-position itself to meet the import requirements
Commenting on the mission, the then Minister of Science and Technology Dr Harsh Vardhan said, “Since 1953, CSIR has been developing new floral varieties and several value addition technologies. Through the Floriculture Mission of CSIR, agro-technologies, new varieties and value addition technologies available with the CSIR institutions, efforts are being made to take these to farmers and entrepreneurs, and help them in multiplying their income”. “Market linkage and trade issues will be solved with partnership of APEDA, state horticulture departments and TRIFED”, he added.
The CSIR Floriculture Mission is expected to create opportunities for entrepreneurship development in floriculture. The mission will further focus on commercial floral crops, seasonal/annual crops, wild ornaments and cultivation of flower crops for honey bee rearing.
In another initiative by the government, Kailash Choudhary, Union Minister of State for Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare during his recent visit to the ICAR-National Research Centre for Orchids, Pakyong, Sikkim emphasised on lab-to-land programmes to enable the state to emerge as an organic destination for tourists and consumers.
The Floriculture industry creates scopes for subsidiary agro-business like export/import, nursery and seed production, organic manure production, and agro-industries. The Floricultural sector is experiencing rapid changes where the Government is the key player. Therefore, such initiatives by the government will make sure that the industry goes through rapid development and thus adding value to the economic condition of the country.
Pooja Yadav
