Flowers

Introduction
Indian floriculture industry has been shifting from traditional flowers to cut flowers for export purposes. The liberalized economy has given an impetus to the Indian entrepreneurs for establishing export oriented floriculture units under controlled climatic conditions. About 60,000 ha area is under floriculture at present. Production flowers is estimated to be 200,000 tonnes of loose flowers and 500 million (numbers) of cut flowers.

Floriculture - Production area
In India, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Haryana have emerged as major floriculture entrees in recent times. At present, the internal demand for cut-flower and ornamental plants in mainly met through production at coastal areas of Kerala mainly Cochin &Trivandrum.

There is also a tremendous potential for growing these plants, on commercial scale, along the coastal region in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka, besides in the Western Ghats.

Growth promotional activities
The most promising area is the dry flower industry. Dried flower and plants have been exported for the last 30 years and today, India is one of the leading countries in the field. In Rajasthan, more than 7,000 tonnes of rose are produced. About 75% of this is exported to West Asian countries in the form of dry petals. Not just flowers, but other plant parts like leaves, stems and pods are also used in the dry flower industry.

Flower trade in India is flourishing as many research centers and special nurseries have turned into a promising business. Exports of floriculture products was valued at Rs. 700 million (US$ 20 million). There has been an impressive growth in the export of cut flowers from Rs. 10 million to Rs. 700 million in the previous years. More than 191 export-oriented units (EOUs) have been approved in the sector out of which 70 units are operational. But many of them operate at less than 50% of their capacity. With redress of the problem, the floriculture industry thus may turn to be viable enterprise for earning foreign exchange.

Besides the development due to the efforts of Institute for Horticultural research in Bangalore and Institute for Botanical Research, in 1970, another impetus was given to the business of cultivating flowers with the establishment of the “Project for Improving Horticulture in India”.

Types
The Indian flowers are either exported to world over in the form of seeds or capsules or dried flowers. This industry has gained popularity due to the presence of exclusive varieties of ornamental flowers grown in India. Rose, Marigold, Chrysanthemum, Mogra are some of the mostly sold varieties.