The Hindu Business Line : Consortium to promote Nilgiris cut-flowers under one brand

CUT-FLOWER growers in the Nilgiris have formed a consortium and mooted The Nilgiris Integrated Floritech Co Ltd (NIFCO) to pool the flower produce and market it under a common brand.

"This initiative by small farmers and cut-flower growers is neither a mass movement nor a co-operative approach. Ours is a united integrated stand with a clear focus on production and marketing of quality Nilgiris flowers under one brand name. The small farmers will be the price fixers and not mere price takers," NIFCO's CEO and Director, Mr H.N. Sivan, told Business Line.

He said unlimited opportunities for the export-oriented floriculture units to outsource their requirements from the district's small flower producers made them realise that they could pitch in and contribute to the economy of the Nilgiris in a big way.

"Uniting all the small farmers is a mass movement initiative. Then we had to study the inherent strength and weakness of the team members to tap the booming national and international flower markets. Since flowers are highly perishable, we sensed the need for establishing a world-class business centre at a prominent place so that the stakeholders (are able to)access the centre without any hassle, build cold storage facilities for procuring and processing the harvested flowers and construct an international training and convention centre as well. The project outlay for establishing such facilities has been estimated at Rs 10 crore," Mr Sivan said.

He indicated that the team was negotiating with the government for getting land for constructing a centralised facility.

The co-promoters and member-farmers, he said, proposed to pump in Rs 1.50 crore, hoping that the remaining amount (Rs 8.50 crore) would come by way of grants from the Centre and the State governments.

NIFCO, at present, is in the process of promoting export-oriented floriculture cluster development zones in the 12 watershed areas of Ketti, Nanjanad, Thummannatti, Ooty, Gudalur, Kadanad, Kotagiri, Nedugula, Coonoor, Kundah, Emerald and Kookal.

According to Mr Sivan, each of these clusters would comprise a minimum of 40 units, taking the total number to 500 units in the 12 clusters. "At the conception stage, we thought that by 2008, we would have all the 500 units up and functioning. But the response has been overwhelming even at this stage. Already, 50 units have come up," he said.

The NIFCO team, under the chairmanship of Mr P. Mohan Samuel, submitted the project proposal to banks for approval and sanction of financial assistance. "Within no time, Indian Bank cleared our proposal. They are our finance partner in this venture," Mr Sivan said and added that the entire project outlay (inclusive of export zone clusters) has been estimated at Rs 30 crore.

As per the projected production plan, by 2005-06, the annual production from the 200-odd integrated units is expected to cross 300 lakh cut-flowers. The project implementation team envisages the integration of 500-plus units by 2007-08 and the production rising commensurately to touch a high of 825 lakh cut flowers.

The project would pave the way for earning foreign exchange revenue of over Rs 200 crore after 2008, when the brand promotion would also have taken place.

The existing 25,000-plus self-help groups with 30,000-plus members would benefit from this drive, he said, hinting that the fund of Rs 19 crore, allotted by the Government, to spruce up the Special Export Zone should be put to constructive use

The formal inauguration of NIFCO flowers is slated for August 30 at Aruvankadu, Udhagamandalam, in the Nilgiris.

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