J&K has potential for various types of crop cultivation; growers are now trying alternatives to already proven agriculture and horticulture. Apiculture, mushroom cultivation, and floriculture are gaining momentum among growers.
Jammu and Kashmir’s environment and climate is quite suitable for various types of flowers, government and floriculture department has been popularising the flower cultivation on commercial level which is getting encouraging results and the flower growers are getting double dividends.
Floriculture is such a industry which has scope and future prospects across the globe. The various new techniques and trends in floriculture have revolutionized the production of foliage plants, potted plants, garden plants, medicinal plants and some demanding ornamental flower production. The floriculture venture needs less space compared to horticulture and agri-crop cultivation.
The nurseries are developed by progressive growers which is proving a boon for them and it has gained good interest among agripreneurship as some have been successfully growing the various flowers at large scale and providing employment to a considerable number of people in Jammu and Kashmir.
The floriculture is encouraging to generate more employment avenues and many earn foreign exchange. As per official figures J&K imports around 90% of its flowers from outside states that indicates that till now we are producing only 10% of flowers which clearly determines the need for the domestic production of flowers.
As per official figures 8215 growers are registered with floriculture department but ironically 981 growers are actively growing flowers on a considerable level. In Kashmir division an area of 189.19 hectares is under floriculture in which 5.39 hectares are under protected cultivation,12.14 hectares are under open cultivation.
During the year 2021-22 about 47 lac cut spikes and 1300 metric tons of loose flowers were yielded and 485 liters of aromatic oil have been produced in valley which fetched an income of Rs 19.77 to the growers during the year 2021-22.
The floriculture is a branch of horticulture that involves processing and farming of ornamental plants, marketing and landscape development of various areas, apart from it this also includes the production of some medicinal plants which are used to obtain aromatic oil and liquid for various industries in order to manufacture perfumes and some spices.
In J&K there are various types of floriculture practices like pot plants, dried flowers, cut flowers, bedding plants, and hanging plants. The cultivation of flowers can be taken either as indoor cultivation at small scale or outdoor cultivation at large scale. The potential areas of commercial floriculture are as ornamental nurseries, bulb culture, cut flower production, aromatic plant cultivation and value addition of flowers.
When we intend to initiate the flower farm we should get connected with floriculture department for technical guidance and expert know how about floriculture. According to experts the prior thing which proves good for this farming is that we should select the proper location and ideal landmass for it which is essential for successful cultivation of flowers.
Different flowers require different period of light and sunlight, commonly it should be open sunny space which is ideal for flower cultivation. The experts from the department and other allied persons can determine the soil, structure required and feasibility and even the soil testing is essential for successful yield, development of flower nurseries is in itself a great job in floriculture as the supply and demand help the growers to produce timely flowers and get economic boost.
There is great scope for floriculture as it provides good opportunities for commercial floriculture and local needs due demand for aesthetically varied uses of flowers. The demand for flowering plants like tulips, garlands, lavender, rose sunflower and other types of flowers is increasing day by day in the market. Landscaping has become an integral part of both urban and rural gardening, hence adding aesthetic value to a place, reducing pollution, protecting the environment and promoting eco tourism.
There is demand for both traditional flowers and modern flowers. Floriculture has been key for socio economic transformation. J&K floriculture has many centrally sponsored schemes for growers for commercial scale. MIDH, RKVY, and ATMA are government sponsored schemes which are aimed to enhance the income of growers and augment the requirements for increasing the income of growers.
Now employment generating steps are taken by department to set up the ornamental nurseries, aromatic oil crop farming like lavender, cut flower production of rose, carnation, gerbera and lilium.
The department of floriculture has taken many measures for the training of growers and innovative methods are uses to get best yield of flowers and new schemes are introduced to promote floriculture prospects
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The facts, analysis, assumptions and perspective appearing in the article do not reflect the views of GK.