Ajay Sharma
Floriculture is the branch of horticulture concerning cultivation of flowering and ornamental plants for gardens and floristry. It includes cut flowers, cut greens, bedding plant, houseplants, flowering garden and pot plants etc. It is a fast growing industry. Urbanization and rising living standards of the people has lead to steady increase in demand of flowers and flower products making floriculture as one of the most important commercial trades in Agriculture. It has been found that commercial floriculture has higher potential per unit area than most of the field crops and is therefore a lucrative business.
India and State scenario
The area under floriculture production in India is 253.65 thousand hectares with a production of 1.652 million tonnes loose flowers and 750.66 million cut flower stems concentrated mostly in Maharashtra, Karnatka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal (NHB, 12). The domestic industry is growing at an annual growth rate of 10-20% per annum. Tamil Nadu is the leading producer of loose flowers closely followed by Karnatka both in terms of area and production. West Bengal is the leading in cut flower stems followed by Karnataka. India’s total export of floriculture was Rs. 423.43 crores in 2012-13. More than 300 export-oriented units are operating in India with 50% of these based in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. Floriculture has recently assumed commercial dimensions in Jammu and Kashmir state and is practiced over an area of about 100 ha (NHB Database, 2012) in the province. Jammu province is endowed with diverse agro-climatic conditions i.e. subtropical, intermediate and temperate. Subtropical Zone constituted of entire Jammu district, lower parts of Kathua, Udhampur and Rajouri district. These areas are suitable for the cultivation of marigold, gladiolus, tuberose in open and lilium and gerbera under shade net conditions. Intermediate zone encompasses major parts of the Kathua, Udhampur and Rajouri districts suited for off season production of flowers like marigold, gladiolus, lilium, rose, carnation and gerbera. The temperate zone essentially covers the hilly area of Bhaderwah, Kishtwar, Poonch, Doda and Kathua. In these areas off- season production of flowers like marigold, gladiolus, lilium, rose, carnation, tulip and gerbera can be obtained to fetch higher returns. High altitude pockets of sub- division like Kishtwar, adjoining to Zanskar region of Kargil district where gladiolus under protected condition, hollyhock, pansy etc. can be cultivated.
Future prospects of diversification
Floriculture is being considered as a viable option of diversification in agriculture. There are a number of options a flower or a floriculturist can take up in future
Nursery industry: Lack of quality planting material is the major hindrance for not realizing the full potential of floriculture in Jammu region. Plant material of various kinds (seedlings, budded plants, rooted cuttings, bulbs, tubers, corms, annual seed etc.) is required for commerciall flower production, pot plant production for adding to home garden and landscaping (corporate landscaping, bioaesthetic planning etc.)
Flower seed production: Seed production of seasonal flower crops is a lucrative business and is to be practiced in considerable area in Jammu regions. This offers higher returns per unit area. Research work is required to develop high yielding varieties, hybrids and agrotechniques for producing uniform seed with higher certification standards.
Hi-Tech/ Protected cultivation: The cut flowers, being exported from India are primarily from these hi – tech floricultural units. Protected cultivation, restricted to limited area (5% of total flower crop area) its contribution to total floricultural exports is significant. J&K has several advantages and great potential to increase the acreage under intensive production and ultimately to increase the floricultural exports provided the units should be opened in ideal locations with sound technological back – up. EOUs need to be established on PPP mode for which adequate financial outlay is required. Provision of establishing low cost poly/ net houses in low/ mid hills is equally important.
Industrial products: Essential oils, dry flowers, pot pouri and other industrial products have got tremendous potential in the Jammu region.
Essential oils: Research should be focused on development of varieties of rose, tuberose, jasmine and carnation with higher oil content and standardizing distillation methods for higher oil recovery. Further, identification of more crops and standardization of production technology needs to be included in the research agenda. Promotion of the sector encourages ancillary industries like steam distillation and use of indigenous technical knowledge (ITK) for making value – added products. SAU/ DOA in partnership with CSIR or other private sector can look into this aspect
Dry flowers: Dry flowers constitutes two third of total floriculture export. At present, the industry is not well organized and depends on plant material available in forests and no systematic growing of specialized flower exists anywhere in the country. The demand of dry flowers is increasing at an impressive rate of 8 – 10% annually offering great scope for the Indian entrepreneurs
Pot Pourri: Pot pourri is mixture of dried, sweet-scented plant parts including flowers, leaves, seeds, stems and roots. The basis of a pot pourri is the aromatic oils found within the plant. A significant component of dry flower export comprises pot pourries.
Natural Dyes: Marigold pigments are widely used in the poultry industry to enhance the colour of the meat and yolk of the eggs and also used in food and textile industry. Technology development in all the areas mentioned above not only improves the situation of respective sub-sector of floriculture, but these become important avenues for diversification of floriculture, sources of income generation and means of employment to the youth in the Jammu region.
Role of skuast of Jammu
A further boost to acreage is expected to occur due to consistent efforts and technological back up provided by the SKUAST-Jammu and Department of Agriculture and Floriculture through the Horticulture Technology Mission. The division is involved in the quality seed production/planting material of recently introduced promising varieties whereby a number of flower growers of Jammu region have been benefited. This has led to the replacement of old and poor performing varieties and production per unit area has also been increased. Technology dissemination through training programmes and on farm demonstrations have motivated farmers for hybrid cultivation and adoption of other innovative technologies. In this direction, the Division of Vegetable Science and Floriculture, SKUAST-J, Chatha, has stepped forward and identified best cut flower varieties of gladiolus namely Eurovision, American Beauty, Novalux, White Prosperity, Jyotsana and Gunjan for commercial cultivation and demonstrated in farmers’ field. In case of loose flowers, identified marigold variety Pusa Narangi Gainda, is changing the floral landscape of the region.
Being a profitable crop with least input cost, farmers across the region are diversifying their conventional farming. The quality seed/planting material of both these crops is being produced in the division and distributed to farmers and line departments. Technology development in all the areas mentioned above not only improves the situation of respective sub-sector of floriculture, but these become important avenues for diversification of floriculture, sources of income generation and means of employment to the youth in the Jammu region.
Quality planting material generation of gladiolus at SKUAST-J, Chatha
Demonstration and seed production of marigold at farmer’s field.
Trending Now
E-Paper
Follow our WhatsApp channel