A surge in the demand of flowers and a huge gap in its supply has opened doors of opportunity for entrepreneurs in Odisha who are prospering by taking on to floriculture like never before.
The local markets in Odisha are able to cater only to 10-12% of total flower requirement in the state and Odisha has to depend heavily on the neighboring West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh for meeting its appetite of flowers. West Bengal accounted for 75% of flower supply in Odisha markets. In fact the businessmen from West Bengal are making a moolah by doing brisk business in the state. As the time of festivals come, the demand for flowers jump by 20-30%. Apart from this the marriage season accounts for large demand of flowers.
The business on New Year last year was to the tune of Rs 10 crore. With the new year around this time, the traders are expecting business close to Rs 15 crore. Sensing opportunities in this sector, the local entrepreneurs have started entering the market. A private group began gerbera and rose cultivation on four acres at Ugratara, located nearly 50 km from Bhubaneswar, supplies over 5,000 gerberas to the Bhubaneswar florists every day. A gerbera flower is sold at Rs 10 to Rs 12 per piece in the capital city of Bhubaneswar- almost double of what is spent on growing them.
Interestingly the biggest market for flowers in Odisha is in its capital city. Bhubaneswar has around 135 florists and nearly 2,000 people are engaged in the business in the city. It is estimated that the flower business in the capital city is around Rs 50 crore annually and is growing by over 30%. The flower traders in the city procure marigold, tube rose and rose from Calcutta. However, the exotic flowers such as lilium, Orchids and Carnation arrive from Bangalore, Pune, Hyderabad and Delhi. Lotuses come from the Anshupa Lake near Athgarh in Cuttack while basil and other flowers for offering to deities come from villages on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar.
Sensing the opportunities in the area, the state government has also started encouraging farmers in the state to take up floriculture in a big way. The government has identified Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Puri, Rourkela, Sambalpur and Berhampur areas for encouraging floriculture. Already Rs 1.5 Crore has been spent in developing the flower market of Berhampur. Apart from this, the government is providing cold storage units for preserving the flowers for a longer duration and refrigerated vans for transporting the stock from far-off places to encourage this business in Odisha. Most importantly, the horticulture department is giving 50 per cent subsidy to start projects in floriculture. And this is what is drawing many businessmen into this industry.
An engineer from Tangi near Cuttack who incidentally was the first in the state to go for large scale floriculture project in a patch of 4 acre land says he is making around Rs 25,000 per month on an acre of land. A rose produced in his farm which costs Rs 2 is sold at Rs 10 to Rs 15 in the capital. Similarly gerberas that cost Rs 1.50 to be produced are sold at Rs 10. Encouraged by the returns, he is mulling cultivation of Dutch Roses which can be exported to Dubai, Singapore and other countries.
Indeed, the sky is the limit for enthusiasts who have taken a plunge into this sector and for those who have not known about this, the time is right to make a start.