Floriculture boosts employment in Uttarakhand

The lives of hundreds of villagers in Uttarakhand are fast improving with the growing demand of flowers across the globe.

Dehradun, Sept 23 : The lives of hundreds of villagers in Uttarakhand are fast improving with the growing demand of flowers across the globe.

More and more farmers are giving up traditional farming for floriculture in the State.

Traditional farming occupied 150 hectare of land for farming of cauliflowers, potatoes, whereas the area has now increased to 620 hectares for flower cultivation.

Floriculture is a totally skill based farming. From sowing the seeds to packaging, everything is done by the farmers, which brings down their production costs.

With little effort and less investment, the farmers are reaping rich dividends for their exotic produce.

"Vegetable farming requires a lot of hard work and even if we grow it in large amounts there are not enough benefits for us. If we grow cauliflowers worth 10,000 rupees and we grow flowers on the same area, flowers will earn us double the amount up to 20,000 rupees. There is more profit in floriculture so we prefer to take it up than traditional farming," said Raghuvir Singh, a farmer.

The farmers produce exquisite commercial varieties of flowers like carnation, lily, chrysanthemum, gladiolus, gerbera and Indian red roses that are in high demand in domestic as well as in European markets.

The high altitude, cold winds and moist soil in the region make it ideal for floriculture, which need low temperatures to bloom.

In fact, such good is the produce that Uttarakhand has now emerged as the largest producer of gerbera in the entire region of northern India.

The farmers are earning around Rs. 70.5 million annually by just gerbera alone.

"Flower cultivation is very profitable. We get approximately five to six rupees for a single cut flower. There is less investment in it and it reaps great profit, so more and more people are taking it up," said Devi Ram, another farmer.

Floriculture involves a great deal of farming acumen and the State Government is extending full support to these farmers.

The government provides the farmers with good quality seeds apart from the necessary technical know-how.

"We provide all possible help to the farmers by supplying them with good quality seeds and extending all the necessary technical support. Apart from the help that they get from the National Gardening Board, the State Government also provides equal help to them," said U K Singh, Secretary, Horticulture Department, Uttarakhand.

Indian exports make for a little over half-a-per cent of the 80 billion dollar international flower trade.

India is a small player in the 40 billion dollar global cut flower industry, dominated by Holland, France, Italy, South Africa and Thailand.

ANI