The Hindu Business Line : Gaining from growing jasmine off-season

Coimbatore March 28 There is big demand for jasmine round the year and consumers are forced to pay more during the off-season when the flower is in short supply.

Now farmers are trying to work around the problem to ensure the flower grows even during winter months, when production falls. About 60-70 marginal farmers of Kariapatti in Virudhunagar district of Tamil Nadu have during the past two seasons successfully raised commercial jasmines that fetch them higher prices during the lean months of December and January.

According to Mr E. Mohan, a consultant at the local agri clinic (under the Ministry of Agriculture scheme to facilitate technology transfer for farmers), 5-6 kg of flowers were harvested daily on average from a 20-cent area.

A carefully evolved plant-tending practice is set in motion well ahead of winter and this includes application of the right volume of soluble fertilisers combined with flowering stimulation (required dosage of phosphorous) that convert every bud formed into a flower. "A farmer with 50-cent plot could get a monthly income of about Rs 25,000 during the lean period harvest," said Mr Mohan.

The Jasmine agri clinic, which has received institutional funding to organise commercial-scale farming consultancy, also guides farmers raising brinjal, lady's finger, onion and paddy growers. The clinic focuses on technology intervention enhance brinjal productivity by preventing potential fruit-bearing flowers from withering.

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