Floriculture in India: Characteristic, Importance and Emerging Trend

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• What is Floriculture?
• Characteristics of Floriculture in India
  • Floral Diversity
  • Extensive Demand
  • Climatic Conditions
• Key Aspects that Helped Growth of Floriculture in India
• Importance of Floriculture in India
• Emerging Trend of Floriculture in India
• Challenges to Floriculture in India
• Conclusion

Introduction

Floriculture is a branch of horticulture and is an ancient farming practice. In modern era, floriculture has become an important agri-business across 140 countries of the world, including India. floriculture is the practice of growing flowers on a wide scale. The floriculture industry in India is projected to grow to USD 5.9 billion by 2030.

With the acceptance of environment-friendly lifestyle, the scope of floriculture in India has further expanded. As of today, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh are the top three producers of flowers in India. They together contribute nearly 50% of the total flower production in the country. West Bengal and Karnataka are other two major flower producers.

What is Floriculture?

The growing of flowers is called Floriculture, which can be understood as a branch of horticulture. Floriculture definition states that it is primarily involved in dealing with ornamental plants and flowers, which are aimed for commercial purposes. In the past few years, it has gained a lot of momentum in the Indian market.

Floriculture industry in India is not only restricted to growing of flowers like jasmine, gladiolus, marigold, carnation, roses, gerbera, and various others. It also includes related sectors, namely the trade of cut flowers, loose flowers, cut foliage, potted plants, nursery plants, micro-propagation, and extraction of essential oils.

Characteristics of Floriculture in India

The primary objective of floriculture is to cultivate foliage, flowers, and ornamental plants for commercial purposes. India, as a country, has a rich biodiversity and has been in floriculture for a long time.

India is among the top nations to export flowers to other nations due to its vibrant floriculture industry. Some of the characteristics of floriculture in India are as follows:

Floral Diversity

With a huge land size, India experience almost every climatic condition, which offers an ideal environment for floriculture and a variety of flowers and plants to be cultivated, thus ensuring its floral diversity.

The extensive coastline, arid deserts, dense forests, and mountainous ranges ensure a vast range of habitats for flowers, thus contributing to the overall floriculture industry boom.

Marigolds, lilies, orchids, and gerberas are some of the most popular flowers, along with some exotic species like saffron flower or blue poppy in the Himalayan region.

Extensive Demand

There has been a huge demand surge in the country for floriculture in recent years. Various contributing factors such as changing lifestyles, rising income and rapid urbanisation have led to this huge demand for floriculture.

Another major contributing factor to extensive demand is that this industry is export-oriented, and countries such as the Netherlands, the UAE, the UK, and the US are some of the most demanding destinations of different forms of flowers, packed or loose flowers and exotic plants.

Climatic Conditions

The Indian climate supports a lot of variety of flowers and plants that can be grown in the country itself in different regions. The climate can be characterised by heavy rainfall, high humidity, or high temperature. With various forms of climate, various flower cultivation is supported.

A higher diverse climate ensures that the country always has some flowers throughout the year to be used or to be exported, which is an advantage for the industry in the country.

The states that are among the top in the floriculture industry are Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, and Maharashtra.

Key Aspects that Helped Growth of Floriculture in India

In last few years in the Indian market the floriculture industry has grown leap and bound. The demand for flowers and plants has increased significantly both in the domestic and international markets. Some of the key aspects that have helped the country embrace floriculture are:

• India has a favourable climate for cultivating a wide variety of flowers.
• The country also has a rich tradition, social, and cultural aspects linked to different types of flowers, such as loose flowers are often used in religious activities.
• The economic importance of floriculture has made the government promote this industry as a crucial industry.
• The government also offers significant incentives and subsidies to the farmers involved in this industry.

Importance of Floriculture in India

Indian floriculture industry holds immense significance not only from social and cultural viewpoint but also from economy and environment viewpoint. Some of the key importance of floriculture industry in India are:

Social and cultural significance: Flowers hold immense cultural and social significance in Indian traditions, ceremonies, festivals, and religious rituals, making floriculture an integral part of the country's cultural fabric.

Economic contribution: It contributes to employment generation, income generation, and foreign exchange earnings through exports.

Foreign exchange earnings: India's floriculture sector has a high potential for export, earning valuable foreign exchange through the export of cut flowers, loose flowers, and other floricultural products. In 2022-23, India exported floriculture worth INR 707.81 crores.

Employment opportunities: It provides employment opportunities, particularly in rural areas, where flower cultivation and related activities offer livelihood options for farmers, laborers, and artisans.

Diversification of agriculture: It offers an alternative and diversified source of income for farmers, enabling them to reduce their dependence on traditional crops and explore new market opportunities.

Rural development: It promotes rural development by encouraging agri-entrepreneurship, creating rural employment, and improving the socio-economic conditions of rural communities.

Environmental benefits: Flower cultivation promotes environmental sustainability by preserving and enhancing green spaces, supporting biodiversity, and contributing to ecological balance.

Health and well-being: Flowers are associated with mental well-being, stress reduction, and positive emotions. The availability of a wide variety of flowers enhances the quality of life and contributes to the overall well-being of individuals.

Tourism and aesthetics: The beauty and aesthetics of flowers have a positive impact on tourism, attracting visitors to flower exhibitions, gardens, and floral festivals, thus boosting the tourism industry.

Emerging Trend of Floriculture in India

Floriculture has witnessed massive growth due to the changing preferences of customers and the emergence of new practices and technology. Some of the most visible emerging trends of floriculture in India are as follows:

• The rise in the e-commerce industry has made it easy for consumers and businesses to connect, thus allowing businesses from a distant part to serve consumers in another part of the country.
• The urbanisation trend and influence of western cultures have given rise to adopting of floriculture gardens as a lifestyle in India. As a result, the demand for floriculture has increased.
• Development of more floriculture gardens and indigenous varieties by leading flower producing states in India with an aim to excel in the industry has also catapulted this industry in India.
• High demand in wedding and hospitality industry along with entrepreneurship wave in floriculture has also led to rise of floriculture in India.
• Acceptance of environment-friendly lifestyle have also led to increase in the demand of floriculture in India.
• The use of innovative technologies in farming like hydroponics, greenhouse cultivation and tissue culture has overall contributed to increasing the yield of flowers with effective use of resources.
• The industry is now moving towards offering a wide range of flowers and plants that attracts a wide range of consumers. This diversification approach involves new colour production, developing hybrid varieties and presenting new and unique designs in the floral arrangements.
• The increasing demand in this industry is not only for regular flowers or plants but for exotic ones. While the market still demands traditional flowers such as jasmine or marigold, the demand for exotic ones is on the rise.

Challenges to Floriculture in India

There are several challenges that exist in the floriculture industry. These challenges ranges from lack of information to use of obsolete technology in floriculture in India. Some of them are mentioned below:

• Lack of information regarding new cultivation techniques and new varieties of flowers among Indian farmers. As a result, they are not able to reap the benefits of garden farming.
• India only shares 0.6% of the world’s floriculture market though India has diverse edaphic and agro-climatic condition to grow variety of flowers.
• Lack of infrastructure and availability of basic inputs such as planting material, quality seeds, skilled manpower and efficient irrigation system. Thus, investment is required in floriculture industry in India.

Considering these challenges, Indian government has started certain initiatives like CSIR Floriculture Mission in 21 states and union territories (UTs).

Conclusion

The floriculture industry in India is rapidly evolving, and it is now implementing new technologies, fulfilling consumer demand preferences, and driving overall industry growth. The industry is also implementing sustainable practices to ensure that while it caters to the needs of the consumers, it does not do so blindly without considering the overall impact on the environment. The employment opportunities and the government support for the industry make it a lucrative one which is on the rise.