The Hindu Business Line : Nilgiris flower sales to rise to Rs 5 lakh daily

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Coonoor Feb. 18 Floriculturists in the Nilgiris are expecting sales to rise to Rs 5 lakh each day in the next season from the present Rs 2 lakh.

"Nearly 31 hectares of land have been brought under floriculture in the recent years. We are encouraging more farmers to go for this venture because the enterprises are too small to make an impact in the growing global trade. From the national perspective, a 10-hectare farm is regarded as a large unit, but there is no such unit in the Nilgiris," Dr S. Ramu, Executive Director of Hill Queen farms services (hillqueen@dataone.in) told Business Line.

The Nilgiris is ideal for growing cut flowers such as carnation, gerbera, lillium (both Asiatic and oriental), chrysanthemum, bird of paradise, alstroemeria and agapanthus for which, there is a huge market. Farmers also grow foliages such as ivy and baby eucalyptus besides fillers such as limonium and million lights, which are used in decoration.

"We have aligned with two Pune based organisations — Sriroz for green house constructions and Plastro Plasson for irrigation and input services. We help the farmers erect structures, provide technical support and marketing tie-ups. Farmers get single window service for floriculture," said Dr Ramu.

e-auctions

Farmers have now the facility to conduct e-auctions. The consoles are said to have been developed to protect the interests of the growers. "The computer would not accept bids if they fall below the reserved price. The buyers cannot operate unless there is adequate deposit in their account. The buyers do not know the volume. So, prices cannot be influenced. The auctions are not based on the anti-clock Dutch system for flowers, but the well-known incremental bids. There would be an incentive for quality," Mr P. Venkatesan, Director of Healthtrack Info Solutions, who conceptualised and developed the solution for the flower auctions, said.

The Nilgiris is trying to get a fair share in the Rs 60-lakh Rs 6,000-million domestic market, which is growing at 20 per cent annually and Rs 30-lakhRs 3,000-million export market, which is growing at 25 per cent annually. India's share is only 0.65 per cent in the global trade of $11,000 million dollars. The Nilgiris should catch up because the global estimate is that in the next three years the world trade would rise to $16,000 million dollars.

"We have erected a number of green houses in the district and are in the process of developing more. We have a lot of enquiries from many progressive farmers. With subsidies being given by the Governments in the State and Centre, more farmers are showing interest. To that extent, the value of the flowers traded would increase," said Mr C.M. Sane, Managing Director of Sriroz.

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