The Hindu Business Line : Bengal parks to have palm tree landscaping

Palms, in particular the palm tree, said to be a `symbol of paradise,' and described by enthusiasts through the ages as "servant of God and friend of man," is going to be used in a big way by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation to beautify some of the gardens in the city. KMC has joined hands with Sahayog Hortica Pvt Ltd, said to be the largest grower of palms in India for the beautification project involving ornamental palms.

And in the process, the South 24 Parganas district of Bengal, where the palm nursery has been set up, is expected to emerge as Palm Country soon. Sahayog has technical assistance from Nong Nooch Tropical Gardens of Thailand (whose nursery is spread over an area of 3,000 acres) and Fairchild Tropical Gardens in the US.

The company is now all set to make available some 200 varieties of palms and 50 varieties of Cycads (palm-like plants) in bulk quantity to Indian and overseas markets, including sale of all nursery items to local markets.

Sahayog has also signed a MoU with the Botanical Gardens in Shibpur and the Horti-Agricultural Gardens, Alipore. Briefing newspersons here on Thursday on the company's plans for the future, Mr D.C. Rawat, managing director of the company, said the horticulture company had plans to emerge as a national player in landscaping and gardening through palms in the next two years.

He views big corporates like Tatas and overseas majors like Posco (now setting up shop in India) as potential customers for landscaping of their factory sites through exotic varieties of Palms.

India, he said, had some 100 varieties of Palms out of the 5,000 varieties in the world. The sapling price will vary between Rs 15 and Rs 5,000, depending on the quality. Describing the business of palms as a Rs 1,000-crore proposition, he said the culture of palms as ornamental trees was almost non-existent in India, the reason being non-affordability of exotic varieties of palms of high prices and sheer lack of orientation towards these trees.

Asked to name the city parks that are likely to be handed over to Sahayog Hortica for beautification through palms, Mr Faiyaz Ahmed Khan, MMIC in-charge of Information and PR, Parks and Gardens, and Sports, KMC, said the company has been given the liberty to choose the parks and the process was now on.

He said such beautified palm garden parks would act as the future showroom for Sahayog Hortica, which has chalked out ambitious plans to emerge as a major supplier of palms to Indian and international markets.

The company, with focus on Palms and Cycads, has started a nursery at four sites in Samukpota village on Bakrahat Road (South 24 Parganas district).