Andhra Pradesh now hopes for a blossoming future
Favourable weather conditions in Araku area to start floriculture on 250 acres in AP
By : v. nilesh
Update: 2015-07-02 01:16 GMT
Hyderabad: Floriculture in Andhra Pradesh is set to get a boost. At present 54,363 acre of land is under loose flower cultivation in AP, generating 1.26 lakh metric tonne of flowers annually. There are also 50 greenhouses for cultivation of cut flowers, each of which grows about 1 lakh flowers in one crop. Loose flowers are harvested from plants independently and cut flowers are harvested along with the stalk.
The AP government has decided to start floriculture in Araku on 250 acre. A horticulture department official said, “Araku has the right weather and environmental conditions because of which less maintenance will be required here than in other districts.”
The government has also sent a proposal to the Central government to start cultivation of dendrobium, an orchid, at Chintapalle, a hilly area in Eastern Ghats in Visakhapatnam which they say, has the right climate for orchids.
Apart from this the government has decided to give 50 per cent subsidy for development of 110 polyhouses in Kuppam, Chittoor district for promotion of Dutch Rose cultivation. Flower cultivation can fetch profits of anywhere between Rs 40,000 - Rs 60,000 from one hectare (nearly 2.5 acre). However, lack of training in floriculture is proving to be a major setback for those interested in cultivating flowers.
A flower cultivator from East Godavari said, “Many farmers without any technical know-how embark on floriculture and plant seeds whenever they feel like throughout the year and use whatever pesticide, fertilizer or bio-pesticides they get in the market, ending up losing their investments. Horticulture department or seed companies promote floriculture but do not provide any regular training on how to correctly go about it.”
The major flowers which are harvested in Andhra Pradesh include gladiolus, lily, jasmine, aster, jasmine, gerbera, rose, African marigold and carnation. The flowers are mostly grown in Anantapur, Guntur, Prakasam, Chittoor and East Godavari districts. The major markets for flowers are Bengaluru, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Chennai. Apart from growing and selling flowers, a major business is cultivation of flower saplings, which is a big business in Kadiam, East Godavari, which has 1,500 nurseries. Mr P. Ramakrishna, a nursery owner, said, “Every month I sell about 1 lakh saplings, mainly to Gujarat and Maharashtra. Heliconia, red ginger, chrysanthemum and anthurium are some of the flower saplings which we sell.”