We always thought flowers could be grown in our kitchen garden.
And a large-scale cul tivation
might require a plot of fertile land. But it is hard to believe
that roses are grown in factories nowadays! That they no more
use natural soil and sunlight, but rock wool and flood lighting!
Yes, just outside Bangalore, there are numerous such factories
growing roses, carnations and chrysanthemums. More than 80,000
hectares of land is under floriculture in India, most of which
is open cultivation. But about 200 hectares of land is under
protected cultivation of polythene greenhouses. Out of
this, nearly 110 hectares of land is used around Bangalore city
alone!
The major flowers grown are rose, jasmine, marigold, chrysanthemum,
jasmine and tuberose. Other exotic flowers like orchids,
bird of paradise, gladioli, anthuriums, liliums, gerbera and
bulbous flowers are being grown both for export and domestic
markets. The production of flowers is estimated at over 300,000
tonnes of loose flowers and over 600 million cut flowers with
stem. A large number of export-oriented cut flower units
have come up around Bangalore, Pune, Delhi and Hyderabad. Export
of roses itself was 252.70 tonnes, mainly to Europe and Japan
during the year 1998-99.
Model centres have been set up for commercial floricu lture
with facilities for demonstrations, plant material generation,
technology transfer and post-harvest management. The Agricultural
and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA),
under the Ministry of Commerce, is implementing several
schemes of assistance mainly aimed at strengthening the infrastructure
and products development.
Among the total 200 odd hectares of land under modern floriculture,
110 hectares is around Bangalore itself. The red sandy-loamy
soil and the moderate climate is conducive to rose
cultivation. Pune, which is the second largest producer
of exotic cut flowers, lags way behind. Nearly 70% of
the produce is kept aside for exports and the remaining
goes to the local markets. The plants are given utmost care,
with protection from wind and sun, provided with the right amounts
of nutrients and proper pest control. Moisturizers kept
at the base of each plant provide a misting effect to maintain
humidity and temperature at the optimum level.
Despite such facilities, most greenhouses that grow roses in
Bangalore are quite lo w
tech. But a few of them have adapted hi-tech systems
imported from Holland. These polyhouses grow rose plants
on rock wool instead of soil and have automatic climate control
system to monitor the atmosphere inside the greenhouse. Typically,
a polyhouse is of one-hectare size and that area is exclusively
kept for one variety of rose. Approximately, 65,000 plants are
grown in tightly contained lanes so that the stems can be neat
and straight. The export quality roses have to be of 40 to 45cms
height, there should a single tight bud in a stem and the leaves
should be very healthy without any scars. It is very painful
to see the gardener nip the buds from the stem so that only
one remains.
No doubt the business is flourishing and the local market has
been growing rapidly. But the international flight charges
are increasing every year, thereby bringing down the profit
margin. As such, modern floriculture is capital intensive
and requires a lot of labour. So one sees only corporate
houses interested in 100% EOUs. Smaller growers are concentrating
on other flowers like gladioli, sugandharaja, orchids, bird
of paradise, anthuriums, liliums, gerbera and bulbous flowers.
And, sometimes, market fluctuations make this trade as risky
as the stock market. Once the flowers are in full bloom, there
aren't any takers. So, despite the rosy picture, it is still
a thorny path.
| Text and pic by Levine Lawrence |
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