Floriculture Today - February 2013 by Media Today Pvt. Ltd.

Floriculture Today February 2013

www.floriculturetoday.in

10 Editorial

Contents

12 Cover Story Chief Editor

S. Jafar Naqvi

Consulting Editors T.V. Satyanarayanan K Dharmarajan Chief Coordinator M.B. Naqvi

Grand Opening by Haroon Yusuf, Food Minister, Delhi

— Anwar Huda

Flowers are Vital Constituents of Horticulture Sector: Tariq Anwar

Editorial Coordinator Syed M K

20 Flora Expo Awards 2013 News Editor General Manager Layout & Design

Anwar Huda

Lalitha V. Rajan

26 flora expo Workshop Pushpa Bitan Society Dazzles Everyone at Flora Expo

Mohd. Iqbal Faiyaz Ahmad

Head Office New Delhi: +91-11-26682045 / 26681671 / 64521572 / 9891858646 Fax : +91-11-26681671 E-mail: MediaTodayMails@gmail.com Other Business Offices

Flora Expo 2013 Glimpses

Building Floral Bridges across Nations: Workshop on Floral Designs

interview 28 Groups like Pushpa Bitan Should be Promoted as they

Add Value to Floriculture: Madhvi Khimji

A Life Punctuated By Random Peels of Laughter & A Lot of Flowers, That is Me: Christiane Duckworth

Hyderabad Mumbai Pune

9248669027 hyderabad@mediatoday.in

9881137397 pune@mediatoday.in

Bangalore

9341473494 bangalore@mediatoday.in

38 We See Huge Potentials for Flower-Care Products in

Admn. & Marketing Office

9702903993 mumbai.office@mediatoday.in

34 Floriculture is Emerging As No.1 Sector in Manipur:

Yogendra Kumar

36 Flora Expo Gives Us A Great View To Indian Markets:

India: Andrew Hey 42 Green Systems Helps Cities to Become Green:

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Varun Mehta 44 The Market Of Chinese Plants Is Growing Attractively In

India: Kaushlendra Agarwal & Dharmendra Bhatt 46 Gardening Vertical Gardening

Vol 17....... Issue 9...... February 2013

Floriculture Today February 2013

A practical & new style to beautify interiors — R. K. Roy, S. Verma, R.K. Choudhary, Satish Kumar, Ranjana and A. K.Goel

48 Flower Pigments

Nature’s science behind plant & flower colours

— Shivani Sharma & Dr. R. Chandrashekhar

54 Meet

Ghazipur Flower Mandi Meet Association Seeks Members’ Cooperation to End Problems

— Azeem Haider

Editor : S. Jafar Naqvi

Willem Nat

59 News

Floriculture Today February 2013

Editorial...

here the guns boomed, now the flower power holds sway. A transformation has been brought about in the lives of people in the villages of Gidhore, Pathalgarh and nearby areas in Chatra district of Jharkhand that were being frequently raided by Maoists. Gone are the days when people in these areas were growing opium-producing poppy -- probably under coercion-- to earn some money to make both ends meet. Freed from worries of Red raids and police counter action, the villagers now grow marigolds and some vegetables that yield good profit. The growers aver that with an investment of Rs. 10,000 on a Katha or 15 sq ft plot, the flowers can yield between Rs 20,000 to Rs 25,000 in three months. Those with bigger areas can reap much better profits to live a life of luxury, as it were, by village standards. In the last two years of peace in these parts of the district, more than 100 families have taken to cultivation of marigold and vegetables as cash crops. Among loose flowers having a good domestic demand, marigolds have a special place, though they may not be for the higher-end customers, who may prefer tuberose, fragrant indigenous rose varieties, lotus, chrysanthemums, jasmines and many others. Marigold, however, is the common man’s flower, having high demand in Pujas, social functions, decorations and garlands. It has also many other uses including in indigenous medicine and in colour making. What’s more, it is easy to cultivate, needing less attention compared to many other flowers. Here credit needs to be given to researchers in farm universities and institutes who have been continuously evolving new marigold varieties or hybrids of different shapes and eyecatching hues, making them more and more popular. While flowers in Jharkhand are slowly changing the lives of people for the better, the use of flower power was demonstrated in a different context at a Workshop held in Delhi by Pushpa Bitan Friendship Society. This workshop on floral designs was on the fascinating theme: Building floral bridges across nations. While the Chatra district growers are a happier lot now, they have their farm-related problems as well. Their major worry is marketing of the produce. Markets being located far, the middlemen make merry. Poor marketing facilities are, in fact, the main bane of floriculture development in India. Speakers at the series of Flora Expos and conferences have been relentlessly raising this issue and at the 8th Expo held recently, it did not escape mention by some participants. They definitely have a point. Look at the woeful conditions at the Gazipur Flower Mandi in the National Capital of Delhi! It presents a classic example of neglect and official apathy. It is high time the growers’ associations, Mandi Samiti and official departments got together to improve the facilities there for buying and selling to match, at least to some extent, its reputation as Asia’s largest flower market. Let us hope the 12th Plan programmes would light up the way better for floriculture.

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Views expressed by individuals and contributors in the magazine are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Floriculture Today editorial board. Floriculture Today does not accept any responsibility of any direct, indirect or consequential damage caused to any party due to views expressed by any one or more persons in the trade. All disputes are to be referred to Delhi Jurisdiction only. .....Editor

Floriculture Today February 2013

Floriculture Today February 2013 11

coverstory

Grand Opening by Haroon Yusuf, Food Minister, Delhi

Flowers are Vital Constituents of Horticulture Sector: Tariq Anwar Pushpa Bitanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s workshop on Floral Designs a huge hit â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Anwar Huda

Aromatic plants, flowers & foliages, plantation crops like coconut, arecanut, cashewnut and cocoa are also important constituents of horticulture sector. These commodities are in high demand in domestic as well as International markets, said tariq anwar

he gala 8th Flora Expo and 7th Landscape & Gardening Expo along with 5th Horti Expo and 2 nd Potato expo 2013 were inaugurated in New Delhi, on 11th January, by the Chief Guest Haroon Yusuf, Minister for Food and Civil Supplies, Government of NCT of Delhi, Sutiawan GUNESSEE, OSK, Ambassador of Mauritius to India, and Safdar Khan,

Floriculture Today February 2013

Chairman, Delhi Minority Commission, Govt of NCT of Delhi, and other highprofile delegates from India and abroad. While the International Horti Congress 2013 was inaugurated by Chief Guest Tariq Anwar, Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Processing Industries, Government of India, amid the presence of several distinguished delegates including Sanjeev Chopra,

coverstory

Chief Guest's Speech at International HortiCongress

Horticulture has immense potential to revolutionize agriculture

he horticulture sector, with a wide array of crops, has been a driving force in the stimulating a healthy growth in Indian agriculture. India is producing 257 million tonnes of horticulture produce with an annual growth rate of about 8 percent. The noteworthy feature is that higher growth rate in horticulture was possible due to improvement in productivity of horticulture crops, which increased by about 27% between 2001-02 and 2011-12. Fruits and vegetables account for about 90 per cent of the total production of horticulture crops. There is a high demand of fruits and vegetables due to rising income urbanization and change in dietary pattern. Among vegetables, potato is the major vegetable, accounting for 27%. It is therefore befitting that a full expo has been devoted to potato. Spices & aromatic plants, flowers & foliages, plantation crops like coconut, arecanut, cashewnut and cocoa are also important constituents of horticulture sector. These commodities are in high demand in domestic as well as International markets. India has been maintaining the leadership in the exports of spices and spice products. Similarly, good income is being derived by exporting cashewnuts and cashew bi products, though our production level of raw cashewnuts are much below the processing capacity. In the case of floriculture, India has made significant improvement in the production of flowers, particularly cut flowers, which have a good potential for exports. India is known for growing

traditional flowers such as jasmine, marigold, chrysanthemum, tuberose, aster, etc. Commercial cultivation of cut flowers like roses, orchids, gladiolus, carnation, gerbera, anthurium and lilium has also become popular. The area under cut flowers having stems has increased manifold. These flowers are increasingly being grown under protected cover, both for domestic and export markets. I am pleased to note that many International players have shown interest in Indian floriculture and are taking part in Flora Expo as a part of this Conference. It is but natural that the development of the horticulture sector, which is predominantly owned by Small & Marginal farmers, requires constant hand holding and support. Horticulture interventions require substantial investments for procuring right variety of planting material and its cultivation, harvesting and marketing. Adequate and timely supply of good quality planting material and seeds of horticultural crops play an important role in improving the productivity of horticultural crops. In order to ensure quality, state governments need to source the planting material from accredited nurseries only. A large number of nurseries and Tissue Culture Units have been set up under the public and private sector for producing the planting material. A scheme on Nursery Accreditation has been introduced by the NHB, and state governments are being advised to procure their requirements from accredited nurseries only. Produced grains should not be lost in transit and handling before it reaches the

Tariq Anwar

consumer. Therefore infrastructure facility for cold chain management needs to be set up. Since cold chain management is still in infancy stage in India, A national Centre of ColdChain Management (NCCD) has been established for addressing the gaps in cold chain sector. Cold chain also generates new value chains and opportunities to our farming community by allowing them the option to reach out to more distant markets. Similarly, for the consumers it ensures a steady and regular food supply. Equally important is the need to increase the food processing capacity, which is only 2% in the case of fruits of vegetables. The private players will have a larger role to play in carrying forward these objectives.

Floriculture Today February 2013 13

coverstory Joint Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, and Guest of Honour Shyamlal Sharma, Minister for Horticulture & Floriculture, Govt of J&K. Fortunately for everyone, The Mother Nature, as if reflecting the bright mood of emerging horticulture of India, cancelled its bitter attack and offered the sunny February-like days. Haroon Yusuf cut the inaugural tape, and took an “aesthetic walk” around the stalls, finding it tough to express his child-like happiness that could only be brought by rainbow colours of flowers and fruits. He took some time to pause at each stall, praising the flowery decorations, and the efforts of the delegates and participants. The horticulture officials of several states’ horticulture board stalls were seen explaining to him the strengths of their respective state in terms of horticulture development. Yusuf praised everyone and said, “Delhi Government under the visionary leadership of Chief Minister Shiela Dikshit is taking pro-active steps to develop gardens of Delhi under Delhi Parks & Garden Society”. “Green Delhi will of course inspire the rest of India to become green,” he said exuberantly. He also praised Media Today Group, organizer of the expos, in glowing words, and said that it is highly commendable to note that the organizers had have been helping floriculture of India to grow by leaps and bounds by inviting all stakeholders under single roof. The Kashmir Horticulture Department officials told him about India’s first Special Refrigerated Train, and offered him nuts, the taste of which was in Yusuf’s words was ‘extraordinary’. Attractive Stalls The various stalls set up by different horticulture departments of various states, and private companies were a great puller of the visitors. While delegates were seen exchanging visiting cards, fixing deals in the peaceful lounge area, visitors’ eyes were focused on materials on display. New concepts like vertical gardening set up by Green systems, and all kinds of flowers at various private firms’ stalls, accompanied by unique traditional display by states like Manipur and Meghalaya kept the visitors glued to the treats of the eyes. There were also food for the brains such as Kinnows, chocolate capsicum, yellow capsicum, guava, amla, various size of tomatoes, broccoli, red cabbage, yellow carrot, seedless cucumber (Haryana and Punjab stalls), and mouth-watering dry-

Floriculture Today February 2013

Dr. Saumitra Chaudhury

Sanjeev Chopra

S Jafar Naqvi

S K Pradhan

Arjun Singh Saini

fruits, apple and saffron display at the J&K stall. While Maharastra Horticulture stall distributed free cherries to the visitors, and selling processed juices, pickles, etc. The range of the product/servicesegments included fresh fruits and vegetables, farm machinery and equipment, potato products and technology, cold chain and logistics, seed, agro-chemical and irrigation, organic, agri finance and insurance, processing and packaging, medicinal herbal products, fresh retailing, and floriculture wealth and technology. Massive Participation The three-day rainbow of expos attracted large footprints of curious local, Indian and foreign visitors, delegates and participants. The celestial in beauty, earthly in nature, Nature’s products-displaying exhibition left no one unaffected or unimpressed. Women, young and old, kids, and men and elders all braved the notorious Delhi chill to make their presence felt at the farmers’ biggest gala event. The International Horti Conference too saw massive participation of professionals from diverse sectors related to horticulture, floriculture and farm machinery. The participants, delegates and visitors from 14 countries and 22 states and UTs took part. The total approximate number of visitors for each day stood at 15000. Celebrated Sponsors The expos, which had the Union Ministry of Agriculture as its Principal Sponsor, has a host of other celebrated sponsors including National Horticulture Mission (NHM), National Horticulture Board (NHB), and Horticulture Mission for North East & Himalayan States. The expos were also supported by the Ministry of Food Processing Industries, Agricultural & Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), Food Processing & Packaging Machinery Industry Association, Irrigation Association of India, National Medicinal Plant Board, and Indian Flowers and Ornamental Plants Welfare Association Partner Country & Silver Sponsor The Netherlands was the Partner Country, while the Silver Sponsor was Andhra Pradesh Food Processing Society, Industries & Commerce Department, Government of Andhra Pradesh.

M Saleem Shishgar

International Horti Congress 2013 The Welcome Address The Welcome Note was read by S.

coverstory Jafar Naqvi, Chief Editor, Media Today Group & President, iFlora. Remembering India’s former President APJ Abdul Kalam, he said, “While inaugurating Horti/Flora Expo 2006, Kalamji had said that floriculture is not just a billion dollar industry but a million job opportunity as well”. Jafar also praised the indomitable courage of all the visitors, delegates, and participants for braving the cold and attending the expo in large numbers. “This shows their unflinching fidelity towards horticulture”. The Inaugural Address The inaugural lamp of the International Horti Congress 2013 was lit by Tariq Anwar and Shyamlal Sharma amid other high profile guests. Tariq thanked all the present guests and participants and expressed happiness of attending such an important event. He said he loved walking around the exhibition pavilions as it was all treat to the eyes. “Today floriculture has made a good progress in the country which was not the case a decade ago,” He added, and praised the organizer Media Today Group for reviving floriculture in the country. Speaking about the needs of the day, he said that creation of an eco-system, irrigation and farm management, subsidies and bringing best technologies are some of the important factors to increase the output and produce the best quality horticulture crops. He also added that only horticulture can make farmers affluent. “Horticulture including floriculture is a growth-engine in agriculture. It has opened the wide gate of opportunities to farmers. With 257 MT horticulture produce and annual growth rate of 8% and 27% growth in the last 10 years, India has witnessed a remarkable horticulture story in recent years. Due to increase in purchasing power and rising urbanization, India is witnessing an unprecedented flower, fruits, vegetables and processed foods’ demand,” he said. Special Address Shyamlal Sharma, who has brought around 60 delegates including Horticulture Director, Extension Officials and horticulture growers with him and put up the biggest stall this time, was very appreciative of Media Today Group for holding this mega event on international commercial horticulture. He also praised all the officials of the J&K horticulture department who transformed the segment through their hard work and implementing of good ideas. A farmer himself, Sharma

Dr. Babita Singh

R Suresh

Dr. H P Sumangala

Jose Petrement

Krish Iyengar

T S Vishwanath

knows the jobs and pains of farmers like nobody else. In his speech he talked about revival of the mandi under his guidance, changing the marketing system. He praised NHM (National Horticulture Mission) for helping the farmers to grow horticulture crops with the help of latest technology and tools. Exhorting all the stakeholders of horticulture, he said, “We need to shift from traditional to scientific farming for enhanced productivity and quality produce.” He also asked for popularizing of value addition to increase farmers’ income. He praised J&K’s produce for their exemplary quality and dubbed apple as “Our Pride” in fruits and “Walnut” in dry fruits. The Keynote Address The Keynote address was delivered by Sanjeev Chopra. Praising the expos and conference he said, “With 14 international participation and 22 states & UT participation, we can not ask who is present but who is not present. Due to the thrust given to horticulture by government agencies like NHM and NHB, and efforts by the organizers of these expos, small farmers have succeeded to break BPL (below poverty line) barrier, which otherwise was impossible to achieve by merely traditional agriculture.” Now with a small piece of land (as India is a country of fragmented landholdings), a farmer can grow several times more with the use of polyhouse and other tools and materials supplied in a highly subsidized manner by the central and state government agencies, he added. He also asked farmers and other stakeholders to combine local with global so that the whole world becomes India’s market. Thank Note In his Thank Note, S. Jafar Naqvi said that some of the measures adopted by Shyamlal Sharma to strengthen horticulture in his state like cluster approach (1st of its kind) can become role models for other states to follow. He thanked everyone for making the expos and conference a huge success. Special thanks were delivered to Silver Sponsor Food Processing Society, Industries & Commerce Department, Govt. of Andhra Pradesh for bringing 20 entrepreneurs, and mission directors of other participating states. Technical Sessions A total of 5 highly engaging and Floriculture Today February 2013 15

coverstory about India’s first Bagwani Train (Which he also explained to Haroon Yusuf at his stall). It runs between Bhusawal to Delhi and brings bananas etc, thus saving the losses.

Horticulture Officials of Jammu & Kashmir with Chief and Other Guests

successful technical sessions were also held on this grand occasion during the first two days of the exhibition, which saw participation of who-and-who of the industry. Technical Session 1 The topic of the 1st session, moderated by S. Jafar Naqvi, was “Post FDI scenario and its i m p a c t o n F r e s h P r o d u c e Sector in India”. The session saw some extremely valuable outcomes through the thoughtful presence of highly experienced personalities such as Vijay Sardana, Director-ARPL India and Head of Food Security Initiatives and Agribusinesses, and D. P. Singh, Zonal Director, NHB. Sardana spoke extensively and convincingly about the concerns of private sector and why it is not investing in cold chain. He appeared blunt but it was okay if looked business-wise. Talking about the government’s complaint that private sector is not coming forward to invest in cold chain, he said, “A businessman will never invest in any project unless and until he sees a business sense in it. He cannot throw away his hard-earned money to just help the government and farmers. Yes, he will help, but he should also be helped first. The government should remove many taxes and provide a profitable atmosphere for him to invest.” Allaying the fears of small traders about FDI in multi-brand retail, he said FDI will not hurt small traders as what small traders can serve to consumers will never be copied by big retailers. For example, big retailers cannot deliver groceries on credit, and will not know the taste and other local factors that small traders do. Consumers will not drive 10 km to buy things from a Wal-Mart store. D. P. Singh said that production of disease-free and quality fruits and vegetables is the responsibility of all stakeholders like NHM, NHB, NGOs and farmers. “To achieve this we have to change our mindset.” He also praised Sikkim for becoming India’s only organic state. He also informed attentive gathering

Floriculture Today February 2013

(L-R) S Jafar Naqvi, Vijay Sardana & D P Singh

Shyamlal Sharma & Tariq Anwar (R)

Pawanexh Kohli

D P Singh

P. Alli Rani (R)

Technical Session 2 The 2nd technical session was based on the topic “Emerging Trends in Cold Chain Developments & Bottle-necks to be addressed”. The session was chaired by Pawanexh Kohli, Principal Advisor, CrossTree, & Chief Adviser, National Cold Chain Development (NCCD), and included panelists: T S Viswanath, Principal Adviser – APJ-SLG Law Offices, P. Alli Rani, CEO, Fresh and Healthy Enterprises Ltd., and Dr. Babita Singh, Professor – Horticulture, Amity University. Viswanath focused his speech on solutions instead of talking just about bottlenecks. He suggested that India should look towards other countries and see how they have developed feasible cold chain and the way they are run. “What we need is export-worthy infrastructure”. “PM himself is very concerned about the wastage (30-40%) and this must be minimized by better infrastructure. We also need different types of cold chains for different segments. And we should not talk about problems but solutions. We need to create a sub-group to do research and offer the government real-time information and ground realities and suggest doable policies”. Dr Babita Singh made a presentation about cold chain development and expressed her ideas to strengthen the segment to avoid wastage. P. Alli Rani, who came late and was almost panting while speaking as she was not allowed to relax as time was running out, lamented Rs. 50 crore loss in her company’s bill book this FY as 50% cold stores lay empty. Bemoaning several lacunae in the sector, she said, “It is unfortunate as we do not have real time information system. Our company does not know what farmers want. There is lack of connect. Apart from this, secrecy in pricing is another evil that hampers the smooth functioning of the segment. Chairman also made an angry presentation and asked the people of segment not to make presentations containing just graphs and tables. It is for school children, he said. “There is enough profit for private sector in cold chain. Since it is vital to provide a pipe to flow goods in a right manner, all stakeholders should cooperate. We do have excellent infrastructure in ice-cream, dairy, meat.

coverstory The bottlenecks are not in infrastructure but in managing and planning. And we need such cold chains that can accommodate multiple kinds of produce.” Calling the various unending discussions here and there, now and then as “Technology Babel”, he asked for a synergy in all steps. Technical Session 3 The topic of the 3rd session was “Emerging States in Horticulture and Floriculture”. The speakers were M. Saleem Shishgar, Director (Horticulture.), Srinagar Division, J&K, Arjun Singh Saini, Horticulture Department, Haryana, and R. Suresh, Horticulture Department, Kerala. The session was chaired by S. K. Pradhan, Secretary, Horticulture and Agriculture, Government of Sikkim. Arjun Singh Saini made a presentation about the horticulture in Haryana, elaborating how Haryana is aggressively helping farmers to use technology like polyhouse for greater income and productivity. He also told that Haryana amended APMC Act to help private sector to establish infrastructure. R. Suresh also made presentation about the unique qualities of horticulture in Kerala. He said that Rs. 10 lakh per beneficiary subsidy is given in the state and the farmers grow almost all kinds of flowers. There are 20 Pack houses in the state, and more will be coming soon. M. Saleem Shishgar said that J&K follows export demands such as WTO regime compliance, and is committed to produce quality and clean fruits and dry fruits. He said that south Kashmir is the centre of 40% A-grade dry fruits and around 6 lakh farmers are engaged in horticulture. He also said, “We are as fragmented farm-wise as the rest of India. Due to hilly region and small size of land, we are facing certain problems. We also need 2.4 crore plants each year. Our focus is on new varieties, pollination, micronutrients, and organic fruit production.” According to him poor monitoring is a failure in his state. Pollination is also an issue, he added. Saleem also answered good questions raised by Bharat Bhojane of Rise N Shine, Dr A P Singh, Former Floriculture Consultant to Government of India, and M B Naqvi, CEO, Media Today Group. Calling Sikkim “Nature’s Own Garden”, S. K. Pradhan talked about the floriculture thrust in his state, and was proud to mention that Sikkim will be fully organic by 2015. Calling his state “Biodiversity hot-spot of the country”, he said

“Delhi Government under the visionary leadership of Chief Minister Shiela Dikshit is taking pro-active steps to develop gardens of Delhi under Delhi Parks & Garden Society. Green Delhi will, of course, inspire the rest of India to become green, and such expos help in this beautiful endeavour,” Haroon Yusuf, Delhi’s Food Minister, said while inaugurating Horti and Flora Expo 2013 it would be good to tell that the mother plant of Cymbidium was taken to EU from Sikkim, and it is the only state in the country that grows it commercially. He also invited everyone to Sikkim International Flower Show that will be held in February.

Technical Session 4 The topic of this session was “Emerging Trends in Flower and Ornamental Plants”. It was chaired by Dr. A.P.S. Gill, Former Floriculture Consultant to Government of India. The panelists were Michael Mendonca, CAO, Rise N Shine Group,

(L-R) Anwar Huda, Sutiawan Gunessee (Mauritius Ambassador) with his wife & A A Kazmi

Floriculture Today February 2013 17

coverstory

Ashok Khurana

Ashok Khurana called the expo as an eye-opener. “It was great to see a lot of tissue culture, technology and experts, green wall concepts here.” He also regretted that DDA which controls a lot of parks in Delhi remained absent. “It should have participated.” who spoke on Innovative approach to the Indian floriculture industry, Kavita Poddar, Pushpa-Bitan Friendship Society (Emerging Trends in Floral design market in India), Dr. H. P. Sumangala, Scientist, IIHR-Bangalore (Landscaping & Ornamental Plants), and Capt Suresh Sharma (Visibility of Indian Floriculture through Photo art). Mendonca made an angry presentation lambasting horticulture agencies and private players for not showing interest in floriculture. He gave several examples of the ongoing projects that either totally ignore floriculture or offer token support to it. His sweating face in winter added impact to his voice of grievances. Nonetheless, he asked floriculture stakeholders to “keep as local as possible and as global as necessary”. He sought logistics driven operations, efficient supply chains, collaborative approach and Mumbai’s dabbawalah-type consortium to strengthen the segment. “piggy-back approach must stop,” he said. He profusely praised the Netherlands for making its floriculture industry the most formidable in the world. “This is the reason why 40% stalls over here have some kind connection with Holland,” he said. Kavita Poddar, the Flower Lady of India, kept audience spellbound with mesmerising presentation of floral designs of various hues and shades. Her labour of love “Pushpa Bitan Friendship Society” of

Floriculture Today February 2013

Kolkata (A member of World Association of Flower Arrangers: WAFA) is wellknown internationally, and works with the globally acclaimed floral artistes. The motto of the society is “friendship through flowers”. “I am not a commercial artist,” she declared proudly. “Here I am presenting consumers’ point of view. The biggest consumers are wedding seasons in India, as India is known for elaborate marriages. The impact of this could be gauged by the fact that even flower exporters of Bangkok increase prices during Indian wedding season. It certainly gives hope to floriculture”. Dr. H.P. Sumangla also made a breathtaking presentation about senecio species, amenity horticulture, aesthetic landscaping and promotion and protection of wild flower species. She also talked about aqua-scape and vertical gardening, both new concepts to India. She called India as “Mega Diversity Centre”. “There are 17 thousand species under 2984 genera and 247 families”. Capt Suresh Sharma, a celebrated wild-life photographer, was as brief yet as effective as any army mission. Through his presentation, he changed the perception of the audience for flowers in real time by a slide-show of his labour of love-snake and flower photography. He said that he spent several hours in scorching sun, and other inhospitable conditions just to capture the right mood of the flowers, punctuated by his brilliant three degree lighting. He has a make-shift van and he along with his wife and kid often spends months in the wild to take extraordinary photographs. “Photography adds value to the floriculture. And it does not need cold chain for preservation,” he said. Dr. A P S. Gill, a benign, down-to-earth, simple, that often belie his extraordinary experiences and expertise in the field of floriculture, praised the panellists for amazing presentations, and said that floriculture needs to be promoted in a big way. Technical Session 5 The topic of this session was “Products for improvement of productivity in flowers”. Chaired by Krish Iyengar, JSNCPAH, the session saw participation of Anand Zambre, VP-Agri Business, Essen Multipack who spoke on New Innovation in use of plastics in Greenhouse Technology - IR COOLING FILMS and PLASTIC GUTTERS used in greenhouses, and Jose Petrement, Representative - Soleplast S.A. Spain who made presentation on

“Increasing Productivity through Quality Films”. The chairman said that flowers are high value products and the scope in floriculture is immense in India which should be used. Anand Zambre made a technical presentation detailing the use of intelligent designing of polyhouse, and why his company developed plastic gutters that are huge success. “Plastic gutters can withstand high rain of the south and arid climate of the Saurashtra region. These gutters are easy to install, and provide a lot of flexibility like transparency,” he said. Jose also made a presentation detailing the use of science and technology in building right kind of films which his company does. “Farmers can increase productivity through right films. The right films should always control heat, light and humidity,” he said. According to him, the real issues are costs and lack of awareness which need to be addressed. Valedictory Session Valedictory session proved to be a great culmination point of the expos. It was attended by the Chief Guest Dr. Saumitra Chaudhury, Member of Planning Commission, Sanjeev Chopra, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Ashok Khurana, Director General, CPWD, and C.K. Khetan, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Urban Development. They were welcomed by S. Jafar Naqvi, Chief Editor, Media Today Group. Reciting a famous couplet of Majrooh Sultanpuri “Mai akela hi chala tha Janib-emanzil magar log sath aate gaye aur caravan banta gaya” (I walked alone towards my destination, but people kept coming and a caravan emerged), Jafar said that it was worthwhile to remember the first such expo in 2005 which was held in Bangalore. Then the cops were called in as farmers were protesting outside for entry and inside the halls were choc-o-block with people. “For the first time, so many varieties, so many horticultural tools and experts of the segment gathered under a single roof”. That outcome keeps us inspiring to serve our country in a more respectful and productive manner, he added. Sanjeev Chopra briefed the gathering about the happenings of three days, and reiterated that it is horticulture alone which can empower poor farmers to break BPL barriers. “Now it is worthwhile to note that horticulture is emerging as a vital sector in terms of value and volume”. Ashok Khurana called the expo as an eye-opener. “It was great to see a

coverstory lot of tissue culture, technology and experts, green wall concepts here.” He also regretted that DDA which controls a lot of parks in Delhi remained absent. “It should have participated.” Dr. Saumitra Chaudhury in his brief but enlightening speech praised the show calling it “impressive and extremely valuable”. “It sends a message forward that helps open up horticulture and floriculture activities for farmers. He stressed on certain factors like ‘connectivity’ and ‘urban demand’ leading phenomenal growth in horticulture. “People are becoming more and more health-conscious and their enhanced purchasing power have enabled them to opt for more fruits and vegetables and processed foods. This is why market is growing at 10 %. “ He praised NHM, NHB and other agencies for helping farmers and said that there is enormous potential and the outcome can be doubled. “NHM should set up high target like Milk Mission did few decades back”. Awards Sanjeev Chopra thanked God for being spared of becoming a jury as he loved all stalls and would not be able to declare which is less attractive more attractive. But nonetheless, awards are awards and they inspire those who do not win to put more efforts. Dr. Saumitra Chaudhury, Sanjeev Chopra and other guests present

“Horticulture including floriculture is a growth-engine in agriculture. It has opened the wide gate of opportunities to farmers. With 257 MT horticulture produce and annual growth rate of 8%, and 27% growth in the last 10 years, India has witnessed a remarkable horticulture story in recent years. Due to increase in purchasing power and rising urbanization, India is witnessing an unprecedented flower, fruits, vegetables and processed foods’ demand,” Tariq Anwar said while inaugurating International HortiCongress on the dais presented the awards to the winners. S. Jafar Naqvi offered special praise to the Silver Sponsor of the expo ‘Andhra Pradesh Food Processing Society, Industries & Commerce Department, Government of Andhra’ Pradesh for lending a great support. Excellent Display Awards The Excellent Display Award Winners are: Punjab Horticulture Department, National Horticulture Board, Rajasthan Horticulture Department, Manipur Horticulture Department, Meghalaya Horticulture Department, Horticulture Department, Uttarakhand, Department of Horticulture, Gujarat, Department of Horticulture, J&K, Department of Horticulture, Karnataka, Department of Horticulture, Kerala, Department of Horticulture, Haryana, CPWD, Delhi, Delhi Agriculture Marketing Board,

Maharashtra State Horticulture & Medicinal Plants Board, Horticulture and Cash-Crops Department, Sikkim, Concor India, Sheel Biotech Ltd,. Florence Flora, Rise N Shine, Arcadia Agro, Garden Glory (India), Tufflex India, Special Awards National Committee on Plasticulture Applications in Horticulture (NCPAH), Grimme (Germany), Paraxas (Holland), Koppert India, VEK adviesgroep (The Netherlands), And Pushpa Bitan Society. The vote of thanks was delivered by S. Jafar Naqvi, and bouquets were presented to the Chief Guest and other dignitaries by M B Naqvi, CEO, Media Today Group, the organizer of the expos. !! Tijarat be-Mushkil Phal, Phool aur Dil !!

Media Today Group Team

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Awards

Flora Expo Awards 2013

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Awards

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glimpses

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glimpses

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workshop

Pushpa Bitan Society Dazzles Everyone at Flora Expo

Building Floral Bridges across Nations: Workshop on Floral Designs

s it is said climax of a show should always be magical, the exhibition was lucky to have, on the last day, a mesmerising demonstration of floral designs by internationally renowned artistes brought by none other but the iconic non-commercial, ultra flower-loving group Pushpa Bitan Friendship Society. There were Christiane Duckworth from Singapore and Madhvi Khimji from Oman. Shahimah Sayeed, Former President World Association of Flower Arrangers (WAFA), Pakistan, could not come to show her tremendous floral design skill due to some reasons, but her presence was strongly, heartily felt at the expo through her floral art piece “Three Wickets: Spreading Love through Cricket”, prominently displayed at Pushpa Bitan Society stall. The two Hands of Nature, for the next 1.5 hours, kept the visitors spellbound with their intricate floral design works. They created decorative pieces of extraordinary design in the real time and found it tough what Duckworth called “The immense task

Floriculture Today February 2013

of focusing on the work at hand, and at the same time, addressing the audience”. The audience included Ikebana artistes and learners, florists, event planners, marriage decorators and lovers of flowers. Omani artist Khimji called her trip very enlightening and fulfilling. As Oman and whole Middle East are famous for amazing perfume (itr), she chose to build her theme around it and roses, another integral part of Gulf life. She made a couple of floral designs in front of the audience and in one such piece she used plain wild mesh, gold tinsel wire threaded white to achieve marble look. Hong Kong Flower Club Member and an expert in western art of flower arrangements who also knows the Japanese Ikebana, Christiane Duckworth has exhibited intricate floral displays based on a “party” theme. A wonderful lady with random peels of laughter she too kept the gathering mesmerized with her intricate yet simple design works that can very well enhance the beauty of interior, welcoming the guests like nothing else. She used coconut leaves and said that a lot of inexpensive left-over flower

Kavita Poddar

and leave materials can be used by artist to create pieces of wonder. She appealed everyone not to fell trees. She loved orchid as it is flexible and can be bended. Kavita Poddar thanked them from the bottom of her heart and on behalf of organizers and Indian community for entertaining and enlightening people at the show. According to a Member of the Society, Indian art of flower arrangement has moved ahead now and pushed India on the world map of flowers. Through its association with WAFA, Pushpa Bitan can compete globally and can also learn other western floral arts in such expos. The society, comprising 400 woman flower arrangers, is the only body which represents India at WAFA.

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Groups like Pushpa Bitan should be promoted as they add value to floriculture: Madhvi Khimji A life punctuated by random peels of laughter & a lot of flowers, that is me: Christiane Duckworth “Floral artistes are flower magicians. But instead of using tricks, they use their holy love for flowers and extreme passion, dedication and extraordinary creativity to make such beautiful decorative objects of desire out of flowers, leaves and some other accessories that viewers forget their own “wajud” (existence) for some time, and remain in a kind of voluntary absolute submission to the art of the artistes like Madhvi R. Khimji and Christiane Duckworth”. ~Anwar Huda

Madhvi R. Khimji (R)

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Singapore and Madhvi R. Khimji from Oman. The Society also won a Special award at the expo. In a hurriedly arranged interview with Anwar Huda, the two affable Queens of Flowers Madhvi Ramesh Khimji, and Christiane Duckworth spoke about their joy of connecting with so many people under one roof, passion for their art, and the need to encourage and help groups like Pushpa Bitan Friendship Society, among other things. Excerpts: Please tell us something about yourself and your work. Madhvi Khimji: First, I would like to thank and congratulate the organizers for a fantastic job by bringing so many people

related too floriculture under one roof. This really helps the industry to grow. I am originally an Indian but went to Oman when I got married. I am also the Director of Ramesh Khimji Group of Companies. Ramesh is the name of my husband whose ancestors migrated to Oman nearly two hundred years ago. Unlike some neighbouring countries, Oman is a peaceful country, and that is good for progress and art. Floral art is my passion and hobby. I want to promote this art among young potential artistes. So I go wherever I am invited. Kavita Poddar of Pushpa Bitan invited me two weeks back, and I was too happy to come to India. Christiane Duckworth: I am originally from Germany, married to an Englishman,

interview and lived for some years there, and then shifted with him to Hong Kong and Singapore 8 years ago. Floral décor is my hobby. I am a hobbyist (laughs), you know. I am lucky to have this hobby as it helped me to have friendship with so many amazing people of the world. I started early in U K, and traveled to a lot of places like Ceylon, Pakistan, Moscow, Japan, and Ireland demonstrating my skills at various conventions, connecting people. It is a real joy for me. I was lucky when I was in Hong Kong as I was a member of Hong Kong Flower Club. The club was instrumental in creating National Hong Kong Association. Through that, I had so many opportunities to do things as I was able to connect so many important persons. So, those were really dear days for me. How did you prepare for the show here? Madhvi Khimji: Since Oman is globally renowned for its perfume. Perfume is the best gift-item there. And Oman is also famous for its breath-taking architecture, warm hospitality and date palm. Apart from this, roses are also central to Omani life, and, in fact, Gulf life. So I thought I must build my theme of floral design around all these things. Christiane Duckworth: This time, I came first to Kolkata and worked with Kavita and her team. But there was not much time as I came on the evening of the 9th January, and exhibition started on 11th. I was amazed to see their passion and dedication for floral art. She, like me, wants to share ideas and spread beauty and happiness all around. And that is great. Since you are from India, you must be willing to come here again and again? Madhvi Khimji: Yes, of course, as coming here is like connecting to my roots. Now, I am looking forward to participate in World Association of Flower Arrangers (WAFA) show soon, and who knows I may be here again in your next show. As you know better that India is famous for its opulent marriages that run for days, and events also need special kind of designs based on special themes, so do you think we need to commercialize floral art to give fillip to this vital segment?

Christiane Duckworth (L)

Madhvi Khimji: It is a high-value segment where a lot of money is spent. And Indian designers travel to many countries to undertake various projects and to demonstrate their art. The plus point is that raw materials are cheap. You know many things which we throw like leaves, and less-used flowers can be intelligently used to make beautiful decoration. But yes, the government agencies, and all the stakeholders of floriculture should promote groups like Pushpa Bitan to popularize floral décor in a big way. It would only add value to floriculture industry. Christiane Duckworth: Yes, I too think everyone, especially government agencies and top flower players should support groups like Pushpa Bitan wholeheartedly as it is good for the whole industry, and brings more money and more joy. Once Pushpa Bitan becomes financially powerful, it can bring more artistes, and create more value. The floral artistes are like bridges between florists and flower arrangers. They bring more business as it is the design that gives impact to flowers. What do you think about flower-power in connecting people and countries? Madhvi Khimji: Yes, flower-power is a great tool to bring friendship between countries and people-to-people connect. That is why the motto of Pushpa Bitan is ‘friendship through flowers’. Flowers

spread a sense of warmness, good feelings, calmness, tranquility and friendship. Everyone loves flowers. It harmonizes life. There is no controversy in it. You see aggressions and anger in all types of conventions but not in flower contentions. Everyone remains happy and enjoy the show just due to flowers. A great friendship and harmony is created among all floral artistes. We become like a family. Christiane Duckworth: Flower-power adds Nature’s beauty to dialogues and thus makes the whole process of connecting a lot inclusive. It is the most powerful power. You are an expert of western floral art, so do you find any difficulty in adjusting to Indian style which is inherently traditional? Christiane Duckworth: Yes, here people love their traditional decoration to suit special occasions like marriages. And every country loves its tradition style. But I have no problem with that. We can adjust to any theme or style. How has been the feedback here? Madhvi Khimji: The feedback and people’s love are extremely good and Indians are already famous for their great hospitality. The audience loved my art pieces and this is the biggest reward for any floral artiste, or artiste. You get satisfaction and a sense of achievement in real time.

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Christiane Duckworth: I am really fortunate to come here. The people are so receptive and it is highly satisfactory experience of demonstrating in front of so many floral dĂŠcor aficionados and laymen alike who gathered here to enjoy and learn. You have so wonderful Nature but a lot of things are thrown that can be used to make beautiful floral designs. At this show, I used orchids as I use minimalist approach and want to keep things simple yet highly appealing to the eyes and heart.

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Anything you want to advise to budding floral artistes? Christiane Duckworth: You do not need a lot of expensive flowers to create beautiful pieces of art. You should have a basic knowledge. The more you do things, the more you gain experience. You roam and suddenly your eyes catch something, and you tell yourself this can be used. Things like left-over flowers and leaves can be sourced cheaply, and more focus should be on the structure, patterns, and themes. n

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Reach Over 11000 APEDA Members

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interview

Floriculture is emerging as No.1 sector in Manipur: Yogendra Kumar Manipur is a wonder state in India. With its three agro-climate zones, diverse flora and fauna, the land of hills and valley is the perfect example of Natureâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s smile. Peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s love of flowers is only increasing each day despite political disturbances. The Department of Horticulture and & Soil Conservation is doing noteworthy job in maintaining natureâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s lap and helping farmers to adopt technologies for making the state the most beautiful in India. Anwar Huda had an audience with Yogendra Kumar, an Official of Horticulture, Manipur, who spoke on behalf of Mission Director (Technology Mission), Horticulture, Manipur, Kh. Ratankumar Singh at his eye-stopping stall with its simple but elegant traditional popular style of floral decoration, so attractive that the visitors were finding it as a perfect spot to get photographed. The two Imphal hostesses Khulakpam Apshahana and Remmei Luchingailu, as beautiful as orchids of their state, had to smile a lot as there were too many compliments from too many visitors. The excerpts from the interview:

Floriculture Today February 2013

Anwar Huda with Yogendra Kumar (R)

Congratulations for winning the Excellent Display Award. How do you feel after receiving such a good response? Thank you very much. Yeah, we are proud to win it, and I would like to extend my heartiest thanks and compliments to the organizer Media Today Group for bringing a lot of personnel of floriculture under single roof. This is what we need. We have been participating in Flora Expo since its inception in 2005, and had won many awards. Please tell us something about the horticulture/floriculture in Manipur. The Department of Horticulture & Soil Conservation was established during 1978 when the erstwhile Agriculture Department was trifurcated into three entities namely, the Agriculture Department, the Horticulture & Soil Conservation Department and the Command Area Development Authority with the objective of taking up programme implementation for horticulture development and soil and water conservation measures. Over the years, the programmes implemented by Horticulture & Soil Conservation Department slowly gained importance and

popularity among the farmers. Alongside, the higher allocations made to Horticulture Sector in the Central Budgets during VIII, IX and X Plan gave a boost to Horticulture programmes in the State, as elsewhere in the Country The state has rich resources in terms of land and soil fertility, rain, water, vegetation etc. and the prevalence of suitable Agro-climatic conditions ranging from temperate to tropical and sub-tropical zones provide scope for development of horticulture in the state. Despite these natural advantages, growth of horticulture in the state has remained lackluster till recently due to the wide gap between the technologies generated and their adoption by the farmers in their fields and orchards. Resources constraint for investment in horticultural activities is another major factor for lack of development of horticulture in the state. A planned approach towards horticulture development in the state was undertaken a few years back when a survey was conducted in collaboration with the National Horticulture Board to identify potential areas for horticulture development in the state. The survey

interview

report indicates that about 2, 77, 0 64 Ha, constituting 12% of the total geographical area of the state are available for horticulture and allied activities. Out of this potential area, only about 14% has been brought under different horticultural fruits and vegetable crops. However, during the last 2 / 3 years the areas under these crops are being expanded rapidly in all the districts of the state. Department of Horticulture was established in 2001-02. Before that, horticulture in the state was not wellorganized or as much developed as today. Once this department and HMNEH started to help farmers in a big way by spreading awareness, linking farmers to the markets, and giving them free insecticides, fertilizers, polyhouses, plants etc, things changed dramatically. Are all these given to farmers totally or partially free? Totally, it is 100% subsidy. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s brilliant, as most of the states offer

only up to 50% subsidy. Now please talk about floriculture. Floriculture is emerging as number one sector after fruits and vegetables in Manipur. Fruits and vegetable sector is already well-established. We have partnered with companies like Florence Flora for orchids and other breeds. Orchid is number one flower in Manipur followed by gerbera, carnation, roses and other varieties. A Centre for Excellence for Orchids is also there to train, demonstrate and facilitate for the production and sale of orchids to the Indian and overseas markets. We expect a big growth in next two-three years. Alstroemeria (Peruvian Lily) has also been introduced in the state as a new cutflower as it is gaining wide popularity in Indian markets due to its long stem flowers and prolonged vase life and various colours and shades of petals. The crop is being successfully grown in the hilly districts of Manipur.

What are the major horticultural crops? In fruits, the state produces the finest quality kiwi, lemon, orange, pineapple and passion fruit. Passion fruit (passiflora edulis) grows naturally there. Now it is grown on commercial level. Shiitake mushroom is another good horticultural crop. What are the main problems faced by growers there? Not much, as we are always ready to help them. They are well-connected to the department and all their issues are addressed on priority basis. Do they export flowers as well? Yes, we facilitate exports facilities for them. See, floriculture is the most promising sector in horticulture, as vegetables and fruits are heavy to transport while flowers are light-weight. But they are delicate and we need efficient handling and cold-fast transport. n

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interview

Flora Expo gives us a great view to

Indian Markets Willem Nat

The Netherlands-based VEK adviesgroep is a globally-renowned company that designs and supervises the construction of greenhouse projects worldwide. From the initial idea of growing in a protected environment, VEK assists growers with everything from low-tech polyhouse complexes to highly sophisticated research greenhouses and state-of-the-art flower and vegetables glasshouses. VEK adviesgroep also won the Special Award at Flora Expo. This was its first participation in any Indian expo. Happy with the curiosity and interest shown in VEK products by Indian visitors, VEK has now big plans for India’s vast markets. In a brief interview with Anwar Huda, VEK’s Managing Director Willem Nat talks about the huge potentials here, competition with other players and his feedback of the expo, among other things. Excerpts: design and construct greenhouses. Who are your main buyers? VEK offers its services to both international as well as domestic clients. VEK's client basis consists of private growers, wholesalers and retail chains, supply industries, commercial banks and institutional investors. Willem Nat accecpting Special Award

Please tell us about the specialization of VEK. For over 40 years VEK Adviesgroep has been involved in the set-up of new greenhouse complexes all over the world. VEK has vast experience in tailoring greenhouse complexes to specific requirements with detailed knowledge of all systems needed for the related buildings in flower and vegetable production breeding centers and research facilities such as cooling, screening, water treatment, heating, CO2, application of low-grade industrial heat in semi-closed greenhouses, etc. VEK adviesgroep is more in to design and works as architect and engineer of the greenhouse projects. We do not look at the beauty of greenhouse but its efficiency, and design and build it that way. We have the expert designers. We do horticulture area development, project management,

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So how are you planning to expose VEK to Indian markets? We have worked for with a multinational German bio-crop science company in setting up its first multi-breeding station in India at Hyderabad, which took two and half years to be designed and constructed. It’s first of its kind of centre in India. Its size is 7000 sq m and has 65 departments. The company will develop new rice and cotton seeds here. I visited Hyderabad 7 times in this duration and got exposed to unique Indian needs and horticulture industry. Apart from that, this expo also gives us a great view to Indian people and markets. So this is the reason I am here to explore, to learn, and to understand Indian agricultural needs and possibilities for our services and products. As you may know there are a lot of Indian companies having JV with Israeli

and other countries’ firms also selling greenhouse here, so how will you face the competition? See, these companies are mainly in selling of greenhouse. We specialize in designing, engineering and establishing an entire project. So we have different work. And as long as you offer the best quality, you don’t need to think about such things much. As you may know India is a country of various climate zones facing from minus ten to plus 48 degree Celsius temperature, so how will you make your products suitable for this country? We have the global reputation of setting up greenhouses in various temperate zone such as in Russia (-13 degree C), as well as in deserts (50 degree C). So, we are fully ready for India. Foe every project, there is a first step and that is to study location, climate, and type of crop, economic viability, customer’s specific needs, and our own design skills. Once the conceptualization stage ends, we put our team to build the project. Are you aiming some joint venture here? No, that is not necessary as for each project we can have a local company helping us in meeting rules and regulations and procuring some materials.

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We see huge potentials for flower-care products in India: Andrew Hey The UK-based Chrysal is a world leader in the development and production of flower-care and conditioning products needed to improve the vase-life of cut flowers. Its clients include growers, bouquet makers, wholesalers, supermarkets, florists, and flower consumers. There is a Chrysal product to suit every stage in the distribution chain from farm level to the consumer end. Its flower-food sachets and stick packs are highly popular in the markets. This was its first participation at Flora Expo. And Andrew Hey and his colleague were quite busy handling the queries of the visitors and delegates. In a short and flowery communication exchange with Anwar Huda, Its General Manger Andrew Hey talks about the need to use these innovative products as flowers are fast perishable products, his ambitious vision of Indian markets, and his feedback of the expo, among other things. Excerpts: 38

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Please tell us about Chrysalâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s products, and why we need them. Chrysalâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s products are basically lifebooster of cut-flowers. So, they are very helpful to growers, florists and consumers as they increase vase-life of the flowers, keep them fresh, colourful and good smelling for a longer duration, thus avoiding wastage. How many days can we keep flowers afresh by using your products? Flowers also need nutrients to last long, and our products provide them the same. By using these products, you can keep roses fresh for 12-14 days. And it not only about how long they last but also how much original quality they maintain in that duration. What potentials do you see here? Depending on the feedback we are getting here, we can say the potential is

huge, as due to increase in purchasing power, more and more Indians are buying flowers. Since flowers are delicate, and need to be transported for long distances, our products are needed to keep them healthy and fresh. We are very much keen to market our products here. Are you willing to form joint-venture here? We want to work with alreadyestablished players in this industry who are selling related floriculture products. So we may have partners in major cities first and sell our products through them. We already serve most of the world markets including China, Japan, US, and Kenya. Our factories are in Kenya, Sweden, Japan and some other countries. And in India, we would first aim to spread awareness about our globally renowned products through our potential partners. n

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interview

Green Systems helps Cities to become Green: Varun Mehta

Varun Mehta (R) with Gauri Mishra, Architect Planning & Design, Green Systems

Please tell us about Green Systems and its specializations. We love the world we live in â&#x20AC;&#x201C; its splendor, its beauty, its intelligence, its magnificence and the opportunities it affords us to create, discover, grow and enjoy all there is. We find there is much to learn from the marvelous way our natural world functions and this has led Green Systems to follow none other but Nature. Well, we are into planning, design and implementation of vertical Garden, roof garden, aqua-scaping, soft and hard landscaping, and pond/lake management, rain-water harvesting, modular waste management, water audits, and other such eco-friendly things. You can say we are into restoring beauty to the world by intelligent use of water and natural resources. We do most of the things related to water. We are more into modular designing and import materials from countries

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like Australia and Malaysia. We have four international partners: Altantis Corporation, Biogill, Aquatain, and Ayala. As you know vertical gardening is a new concept for India, do you think we need a lot of awareness and government policies to popularize it? The need of green infrastructure cannot be undermined in todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fast urbanization scenario. Vertical gardens does a lot of benefits to us like lowering temperature, attracting birds and insects thus maintaining bio-diversity apart from offering a feeling of calmness to the eyes. We create a design feature that is pleasing to the eye and the environment. With the Vertical Garden range you can provide environmental and aesthetic benefits by implementing nature as a heat and air purifier. Roof gardening is also needed a big

Vertical Gardening is a new concept for India, but it is already in welldeveloped shape in cities like New York due to lack of space and profitable use of vertical heights. The Flora Expo had Green Systems as a participant, the innovatively built stall of which had enough visitor-pulling power with its glass-waterfall and miniature pot plants of attractive sizes and shapes. In a brief chat with Anwar Huda, Its CEO Varun Mehta talks about the work of the company, scope in India, and future plans, among other things. Excerpts: promotion as the vast spaces are empty or used for no good purpose in our big cities. Roof garden reflects heat and keeps the building cool. We can also use wastewater discharged by the building, treat it and use it to irrigate plants. So you know water management and roof and vertical gardening go hand-in-hand. How do you manage vertical and roof gardens? We employ expert professionals and offer tools for maintaining rows and such other things to avoid flooding. Drainage system must be very efficient, and we have to look after these gardens in a different way. The drainage cell is ideal for Planter Boxes and Roof Garden Design. Excellent growing conditions are achieved by draining only excess water, leaving high moisture content. Apart from it, we also do rain water

interview harvesting so that the building owner could save on electricity and water bills. And we can use the top of rainwater storage for mini roof gardening. This content produces optimal growing conditions for vegetation above the drainage cell. The drainage cell acts as a protective membrane for waterproofing over concrete slabs. The drainage cell also provides ventilation to concrete slabs, alleviating heat induced stress and cracking. Our designs ensure a lightweight garden design, featuring water filtration and a range of Flo-Cells and tanks to drain, filter and create a lightweight void. And with our Sustainable Roof Garden System, you can fill and even store water for reuse, all within the roof garden or planter box. You must have an attractive client list? Yeah, of course, as major brands have huge buildings in the heart of major cities, they need roof and vertical gardens for all good reasons. We serve brands like Honda, Tata, gsk, Maruti Suzuki, Taj, GE, Jindal Steel & Power, Indian Railways, The Leela, Oberoi and Omax. Through roof, vertical gardening and water management we are

helping them to increase their property value, its aesthetic value. What are your future plans? Our future plans include entering solar energy, and expanding our waste water management portfolio like beautifying major gutters of a city (not by covering

them), among other things. What is your feedback of Flora Expo? Yes, of course, we enjoy it. Visitors are curious about vertical and roof garden and know they have to do it. We have received a lot of attention here and I believe it will help us in our plan. n

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interview

Kaushlendra Agarwal (3rd from L), Dharmendra Bhatt (Extreme R)

The market of Chinese plants is growing attractively in India:

Kaushlendra Agarwal & Dharmendra Bhatt Recent popularity of Chinese pot-plants and in general miniature pot-plants among Indian home-makers is a new success story. They add tremendous value to the interior of the home. And they are in various interesting shapes and patterns. New Delhi-based Garden Glory, a famous company dealing in such varieties, also participated in the expo, attracting a shoal of curious visitors. Garden Gloryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s CEO Kaushlendra Agarwal and Account Manager Dharmendra Bhatt, in a brief chat with Anwar Huda, talk about the new evolved markets in India, scope of miniature pot-plants, among other things. Excerpts: 44

Floriculture Today February 2013

Please tell us about your company and its activities. Garden Glory India is a 12 year-old company that sells Indoor and Outdoor Plants, Flower bulbs, Orchids, Bonsai, Cactus, importable plant, Solar Garden Lights, Garden Materials, Landscape and Grass Seeds, etc. We import all our plants from China, and other things from Holland. We are supplier and wholesaler. Our farmhouse is in Noida. What is the reason behind the popularity of Chinese pot-plants like bonsai? Clients, especially corporates love something new. A new thing is always welcomed. The Chinese plants add

tremendous value and beauty to the premises. They can be kept inside offices to make look aesthetic. How is the market and whether you also export? The market is growing attractively, especially for Chinese plants, and we see good days ahead. The future is very bright. We do not export. We only import. Whom do you supply? We supply to retailers, corporates, farm houses, government departments, institutes and nurseries throughout India. n

Floriculture Today February 2013 45

Gardening

Vertical Gardening

A practical & new style to beautify interiors â&#x20AC;&#x201D; R. K. Roy, S. Verma, R.K. Choudhary, Satish Kumar, Ranjana and A. K.Goel (Botanic Garden, CSIR-National Botanical Research Institute)

lants and gardens have always fascinated mankind since long by virtue of their beauty, colour and fragrance. In urban areas, importance of plants and gardens is much more as compared to other places considering the environmental issues. Intensive urbanization has drastically reduced the scope of urban gardening. There is hardly any horizontal space available for outdoor gardens. Moreover, pattern of living has also changed with the introduction of multi-storied apartments. As a consequence, people are now forced to look for alternative ways of gardening suitable to changed scenario. With the change of entire social structure and living pattern, the quest for growing plants for beautification has resulted creation of Vertical Gardening. This is a special kind of urban gardening suitable to small spaces particularly for decorating walls, corridors, balconies, porch, roof and any other unutilized space in an aesthetic way with the help of special structures and plants. This style of gardening is so adjustable that it can be molded according to the need and place to beautify. As a result, popularity of Vertical Gardening is on high due to their easy creation and usefulness. Utility Considering the current state of social structure and living pattern, vertical gardening is most purposeful gardening style for urban areas. Any space, small or big, narrow or wide, lighted or shaded,

Floriculture Today February 2013

Creation of Interior Green Walls

Ball-Planter

Exterior Green Walls

Plants in Racks

open to sky or covered can be converted into a vertical garden. The greatest advantage is that there is no need of ground space.

Purpose The quest for growing plants and gardening without ground space is possible by pursuing vertical gardening and one can fulfill the desire of growing various types of plants. There are various purposes which can be achieved by vertical gardening. v A noble way to pursue gardening as a hobby in limited space.

A good source of enjoyment and an opportunity to have close association with nature. A way of diversion from routine life and a great tress buster. An easy way of beautification of unused vertical and other spaces.

Styles There are several styles of vertical gardening which suit almost all kind of requirement of beautification be it wall, balcony, stairs, walk way, roof, corridor etc. The main styles are as follows:

Gardening v

Provides excellent air circulation for the plants and improving air-quality of the surroundings.

Structures The requirement of structures for developing vertical gardens depends on style selected and the place where the garden is to be developed. One may need brick work for preparing plant boxes, racks, and other various kinds of structures. Several types of prefabricated modules, plant hangers, molded polymer containers, stands, planters and wooden boxes are available which are generally fixed on the wall or stand alone for creating the gardens, as per need and style.

Different Styles of Vertical Gardening Botanic Garden CSIR-NBRI Lucknow

01.

Balcony / Parapet Planters

07.

Plants in Hangers

02.

Ball Planters

Pocket Planters

03.

Garden Towers

09.

Step Gardens

04.

Green Wall/ Living Wall

10.

Trellis and Arbor

05.

Modular Wall Planters

11.

Wee Tree Wall

06.

Plants in Racks

12.

Window Sill Garden

Advantages There are several advantages of vertical gardens over the other gardening styles. v Comparatively more number of plants can be accommodated in a limited space. v Improving air quality and reducing air born particulates. v Shaded space can also be converted

Plants in Showcase

v v v v v v

to vertical garden. Reducing Urban Heat Island Effect. Act as sound insulation. Decreasing storm water runoff. Energy savings. Source of substantial flowers for daily use. Provides privacy and a disguise from ugly views.

Modular Planters

Plants for Vertical gardening Many types of foliage and flowering plants are used in vertical gardens for beautification purpose. The selection is generally made very carefully on the basis of location, availability of light, choice and purpose. The plant species suitable for this purpose are furnished in the Table-1. In addition, one can use annuals (seasonal grown in pots) and other plants (foliage and flowering) as per availability and choice. Maintenance Though vertical garden is a special kind of gardening deviated from the normal garden styles, maintenance of the plants and structure is not very difficult. It requires routine and regular maintenance jobs like watering, removal of yellow / dried leaves, irrigation and changing of plants at regular intervals etc. Initiatives: For popularization of this useful gardening technique, CSIR-NBRI has taken-up initiative to display different styles of vertical gardening in the Botanic Garden. Altogether, eight different styles have been exhibited with an educative board furnishing brief outlines. People may enjoy the visual beauty of the plants displayed in different styles as well as study the structure required for such display for further implementation at their end. Acknowledgement Authors are grateful to Dr. C.S.Nautiyal, Director, CSIR-NBRI for conceptualization of the ideas for display of the various styles of vertical gardening in the Botanic Garden for popularization of this new gardening style and guiding us for successful implementation. Floriculture Today February 2013 47

flower science

Flower Pigments

Nature’s science behind plant & flower colours by Shivani Sharma & Dr. R. Chandrasekhar (Department of Floriculture & Landscape Architecture, Dr. Y.S.R Horticulture University, College of Horticulture, Rajendra Nagar, Hyderabad)

igments are “molecules that absorb specific wavelengths (energies) of light and reflect all others”. Or, pigments are colourful substances. They absorb, reflect and/or transmit certain wavelengths of light and this makes them to appear “colourful”. A plant pigment is any type of coloured substance produced by a plant. In general, any chemical compound which absorbs visible radiation between about 380 nm (violet) and 760 nm (ruby-red) is considered as a pigment. Plant pigments give colour to leaves, flowers, and fruits and are also important in controlling photosynthesis, growth, and development. Biological pigments, also known simply as pigments or biochromes, are substances produced by living organisms that have a colour resulting from selective colour absorption. Biological pigments include plant pigments and flower pigments. Generally, colours can be divided into four categories: (1) Natural colours (2) Nature-identical colours (3) Synthetic colours (4) Inorganic colours

Flower Pigments

Floriculture Today February 2013

Natural colours are pigments made by living organisms.

Nature-identical colours are man-made pigments which are also found in nature. Examples

are carotene, canthaxanthin, and riboflavin. 3.

Synthetic colours are man-made colours which are not found in nature. These are often azo-dyes.

Inorganic colours examples are titanium dioxide, golden, silver etc.

Main bio-pigments are: 1. Chlorophyll. 2. Anthocyanins. 3. Carotenoides. 4. Betalains. 5. Phycobilins. Flower Pigments: Main Species & Varieties 1. Marigold (Asteraceae) Species for pigment extraction - Tagetus erecta & T. patula. Pigment - pigment “lutein” a carotenoid which is extracted from marigold is added in poultry feed to intensify yellow colour of egg yolk and broiler skin. Lutein (from Latin word luteus meaning “yellow”) is a xanthophyll and one of 600 known naturally occurring carotenoids. Lutein is synthesized only by plants and is composed of esters of xanthophylls. Lutein is also found in flower like nasturtium and calendula.

flower science delphinidin-type anthocyanins, while orange to red flowers contain pelargonidin and cyaniding type anthocyanins.

Lutein Pigment for Poultry Feed – In

Marigold Powder Form

Rosa hybrida

Leutin- Intensify Egg Yolk Colour Broiler’s Skin

Lutein- Intensify

2. Rose (Rosaceae) Species and varieties for pigment extraction: a. Rosa mosqueta (Rosa rubiginosa) carotenoids.

Other spp. containing carotenoids and flavonoids (mainly flavonols and anthocyanins) are: Rosa foetida (Section Luteae), R. spinosissima (Section Pimpinellifoliae) and R. canina, R. corymbifera, R. azerbaidzhanica, R. iberica, R. komarovii, R. nisami, R. prilipkoana, R. cuspidata, R. tomentosa and R. pulverulenta (Section Caninae). 3. Calendula - pot marigold (Asteraceae) Species for pigment extraction - Calendula officinalis L. Pigments - flavonoids & carotenoids. Calendula officinalis

Rosa mosqueta (Rosa rubiginosa)

b. Rosa rugosa – carotenoids. The red colour of rose is attributed to the presence of anthocyanins and carotenoids. 4. Bougainvillea (Nyctaginaceae) Species for pigment extraction - Bougainvillea glabra. Pigments - Betanin; Betalains; Acyl-oligosaccharide linked betacyanins.

Rosa rugosa

c. Rosa damascena – carotenoids.

The natural pigment composition of purple bracts of Bougainvillea glabra consists of a highly complex mixture of betacyanins solely differing by the substitution with a variety of acyl-oligoglycoside units.

Bougainvillea glabra

Rosa damascena d. Rosa hybrida cv. ‘Frisco’- Carotenoids Petals of Rosa hybrida cv ‘M’me Violet’ contains two novel blue pigments, rosacyanins A1 and A2. Most blue flowers contain Floriculture Today February 2013 49

flower science 5. Camellia (Theaceae) Species for pigment extraction - Camellia japonica, Camellia azelea. Pigment - Red pigment (Anthocyanins).

Camellia japonica

Camellia azelea

6. Chrysanthemum (Asteraceae) Species for pigment extraction: Dendrathema grandiflora. Pigments - Purpulish - red flower colour pigment Cynidin 3-O (6” – O – monomalonyl – Beta – glucopyrenosid), Cynidin 3 – dimalonyl glucoside, Acylated anthocyanin. Dendrathema grandiflora

Gladiolus grandiflora

9. Lilium (Liliaceae) Species for pigment extraction - Oriental Hybrid Lily, Lilium spp. (pink flowered cultivar Marrero). Pigments – Anthocyanins. Anthocyanins are the predominant pigments in flowers of the Oriental hybrid lily. High temperature often reduces the quality of anthocyanin colour in flowers, which is a problem in the commercial production of ornamental plants.

7. Tuberose (Agavaceae) Species for pigment extraction: Polianthes tuberosa, Polianthes howardii. Pigments – Anthocyanin (Cyanidin, Delphinidine), Carotenoids.

Polianthes tuberosa

Polianthes howardii

8. Gladiolus (Iridaceae) Species for pigment extraction - Gladiolus x grandiflora ‘Ariake’ (bluish cultivar). Pigments - Anthocyanins (Malvin, Malvidin-glycosides), Flavonoides (Kaempferol), Flavonol glycosides. Flower coloration varies from white, yellow, pink, red to purple. Some anthocyanins have been isolated as flower pigments, and other flavonoids of the bluish cultivar, G. x grandiflora ‘Ariake’ have also been isolated and identified.

Floriculture Today February 2013

Lilium spp. (Oriental hybrid lily)

10. Lisianthus (Gentianaceae) Species for pigment extraction: Eustoma lisianthus. Pigments: Anthocyanins.

flower science Eustoma lisianthus

11. Orchids (Orchidaceae) Species for pigment extraction - Phalaenopsis hybrids Orchid var. such as: ‘Dawn Angel’, ‘San Francisco’, ‘Marlene’. Pigments - Anthocyanins, Carotenoids, (3’,7-di-O-sinapylglucosyl)3-glucosyl cyanidin, apigenin 6-C-ribosido-7-O-glucoside, and saponarin. Anthocyanins, play a crucial role in colour appearance of orchid flowers. Phalaenopsis sp.

Application & Uses of Pigments 1. Natural pigments: They serve as alternative to synthetic dyes. 2. Lutein: It serves following functions. a. Antioxidant property. b. Useful in eye health protection. c. Poultry feed – as powder or extract. It imparts good yellow colour to egg yolk & muscle tissue. d. Natural food colourant – Lutein esters are soluble in vegetable oils to an extant of 20 % - 25%. Hence, are used for colouring mustard oil , butter cream (lutein addition found to increase shelf life of butter cream) , salad dressing, yoghurt cakes i.e. cream & dairy products. 3. Food, nutritional and pharmaceutical preparations: Natural pigments have been used preferentially in food and cosmetic production. Anthocyanins and carotenoids which are distinct pigment found in plants are used for their value in food, nutritional and pharmaceutical preparations especially because of their low toxicity. Carotenoid pigments have shown positive benefits in slowing the growth of induced skin tumors, treating dermatological diseases, and lowering the overall risk of cancer in human beings. 4. Variation in flower colour: Pigment anthocyanins gives rise to the rich variety of colours seen in flowers and other plant tissues. The major floral pigments are derived from anthocyanins, with some contributions from yellow carotenoids. The anthocyanin dihydrokaempferol (DHK) is the precursor for all three primary plant pigments: cyanidin, pelargonidin and delphinidin.

12. Tecoma (Bignoniaceae) Species for pigment extraction – Tecoma stans, Tecoma capensis. Pigments – B-carotene, Zeaxanthin, Y- carotene, lycopene.

5. Protective nature: hydrophobic molecules (carotenoids) are the best to protect lipophilic surfaces such as membranes.

Tecoma stans

Tecoma capensis

13. Sunflower (Asteraceae) Species for pigment extraction - Helianthus annus. Pigments - Anthocyanins (in Purple hulls of seeds).

Helianthus annus

Dried Flower Head

6. Attract pollinators & repel harmful insects: Colour and scent performance by secondary metabolites, such as flavonoids, terpenoids, and other volatives can underlie attraction or repelling of insects and herbivores. 7. Photoprotective nature: The rationale of the photoprotective function displayed by various chemical types of secondary metabolites (flavonoids, including anthocyanins, cinnamic acid derivatives, xanthophylls) can be the presence of conjugated double bonds, i.e. delocalized π-electrons. This electronic configuration allows absorbance in the visible light- and UV- spectrum and easy electron and energy transfers. n

Seeds

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event report

Beach Festival 2013

A show to inspire new generation to take up floriculture

Minister Thota Narasimham opening stall in kakinda

l Bureau Report

ndhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy and Union Tourism Minister Dr. Chiranjeevi inaugurated the Beach Festival, in Kakinada, on January 11th. On 12th January, Pall Venkanna and Sons welcomed the Minister for Human Resource Development Engr. Pallam Raju Garu, and the Regn., and Stamps Minister, Thota Narasimham who visited their stall and praised their endeavour. Different flower plants were swaying by the forceful breeze, and in that, there was the kaleidoscopic splendour of an array of colours mingling majestically. By the side of the flower beds, there were different varieties like maruvam, poinsettia, vinca roses,dianthus,cocksco mb,chrysanthemum,euphorbia,kalanch oe,salvia etc., pouring out the pleasant perfumes and in all their verdure looking like a green border to a colorful saree of flowery weave. The dawn-to-dusk activities of

Floriculture Today February 2013

the nurserymen for three days were remarkable. The flower show was a tremendous attraction to the visitors. Thousands of nature lovers watched the show and were enthralled by its splendour and the nurserymen’s dexterity. The ministers and the public who visited the Palla Venkanna flower show appreciated Palla Venkanna Garu and his sons for their research and hard work that earned laurels to Godavari districts and to Andhra Pradesh too. “The great application is the place where a researcher finds utility, understanding of the nature’s movements in all seasons of flowering time. Their discipline, devotion and determination would certainly bring improvement in floriculture. The soil to be prepared and its composition, nutrient level and bed making are important for better results. Such shows would certainly inspire the younger generation to develop their career in the floriculture segment,” the Minister said.

appreciation from Minister Thota Narasimham

central cabinert Minister M.Pallam Raju (ministry of human resources)

Beach festival Working still

event report

Sri Satyadeva Nursery submits ‘Letter of Demands’ to Andhra CM & Union Tourism Minister

ulla Veera Venkata Rao, Director, Sri Satyadeva Nursery, submitted a Letter of Demands and Suggestions to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy and Union Tourism Minister Dr. Chiranjeevi for the establishment of Floriculture Project Directorate at Kadiyam, and to identify the Kadiyam Nurseries as Official Agro-based tourism center. The letter was given on the occasion of Beach Festival Inaugural Function in Kakinada, on January 11th. The Letter praised Kadiyam Nursery Cluster as the largest cluster of nurseries in the country, which has put the region on the Global Horticulture map. There are about 800 Nurseries ranging from one fourth an acre to 60 acre in a contiguous stretch of 3000 acres to 4000 acres. The climatic conditions are favourable to floriculture, and the cluster has fertile soil, and is abundantly irrigated. The farmers’ hard work for years made this place as ‘Center of Excellence for Ornamental Plants’. Further, the nursery farmers have developed numerous varieties of flowers, ornamentals, indoor and outdoor plants over the decades. All these natural developments were the nice experience to the visitors and foreign delegates who often come here. Kadiyam nurseries have great potentials to fulfill the requirement of

horticulture crops in the state and India. Out of total production, 70 % of plants go to the other states and recently farmers are exporting plants to Oman, Muscat, Qatar and Jordan etc. But despite of all these advantages, farmers are facing problems of pests and diseases, lack of knowledge about latest technologies and new methods of production, quarantine measures and market intelligences. So, the letter made following requests: 1. Propose to central Government of India in setting up of Research and Training center or (Project Directorate on floriculture (Flowers & Ornamentals) at Kadiyam (Or in and around Rajahmundry) to train the local growers in scientific manner to meet the international s t a n d a r d s .

Development of Biotechnology, Tissue culture protocols for ornamental plants for mass multiplication to promote exports. 2. Set up Special economic zone (S.E.Z) for floriculture commercial nursery, with training facility to nursery men, with good investment by the government of bankers, investors. n

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Meet

Ghazipur Flower Mandi Meet

Association seeks members’ cooperation to end problems — Azeem Haider

round 100 members gathered to attend General Meeting, organized by Ghazipur Flowers Market Traders Association (GFMTA), on January 8. The list of the attendees included President: Ajab Singh Chudhury, Sanrakshak: K.L. Yadav, Secretary: K.C. Joshi, Cashier: Ravindra Singh Saini, VicePresidents: Ravi Advani, Subhas Sethi, Ram Kishan Saini, Assistant Secretaries: Jayveer Singh, Devendra Kumar, Assistant Cashiers: Shailendra Gupta, Krishna Kumar Saini, Virendra Kumar, Khagesh Yadav, Advisers: Praveen Kumar, Ashok Kalra, and Members: Devendra Pal, Ramesh Ray, Nageshwar, Subhas Yadav, among others. Power Problem Speaking as the Chief Guest, President Ajab Singh offered suggestions to the prevailing numerous problems at the mandi. Speaking about power shortage, he said, “We face power outages in the night especially around 2.30 am when flowers arrive here. This hampers ours job and put us in great difficulty. To address this issue we will send a letter to the Electricity Board. We must have uninterrupted power supply to do our work”. Legal Eagle About the need to have a lawyer, he said, “For a long time we have been lacking expert legal adviser. Now the time has come when we should hire a lawyer to take care of legal affairs of the Association and

Floriculture Today February 2013

help us as an adviser on legal matters”. Security We also need 4 to 6 private guards as police is not providing security to mandi. Security is an important issue, and we must cooperate on this, he said Financial Contribution About financing all this, he suggested that members must regularly contribute to pool up a fund to pay lawyer, guards, and other such staff that mandi needs. Demand for Closure of two mandis He also demanded the closure of

Fatehpuri and Mehrauli mandi as despite merging of all three mandis (These two and Connaught Place) into one—Ghazipur— these two mandis are still doing business which is illegal as it affects flower trade at Ghazipur Mandi. Why Mandi Tax? Some members also raised questions. The prominent one among them was a question on tax issue. “Why should we continue to pay mandi tax when we pay all mandatory taxes like service tax and income tax?” asked a member The president assured them of looking after all issues. n

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News

Rising flower demands good for the industry

he greenhouse built over an area of more than three acres comes as a relief for Soumendra Behera. Three years ago his initiative to start rose flower cultivation in Odisha has finally started yielding good results. Behera’s greenhouse produces a large number of roses and gerbera flowers, which are not only supplied across the state but are also exported to other cities. The growing demand of roses has encouraged entrepreneurs to venture into the flowery business. Earlier, the state had to depend on Bangalore, Kolkata and Delhi for supply of flowers but now Odisha has two production units of high-quality Dutch roses in Cuttack and Khurda. “Initially, the use of flowers was limited to corporate functions only. But these days they have become among the commonest gifts, during weddings, birthdays and other occasions. This has made the private sector venture into floriculture,” Sushant Ranjan Das, assistant horticulture officer, said. “Dutch roses are slightly different from other rose varieties. They are of better quality and hence the demand is more. This New Year, the demand for Dutch roses surpassed previous records. We sold more than 1,100 bundles of roses, which is almost double of last year’s sale,” says Kailash Behera, marketing manager of Bhoomi Agro Enterprises, one of the production units in the state. Available for just Rs 20 per stick, the Dutch flowers made for good New Year gifts without pinching the pockets. “Red and yellow roses were in very high demand this year. All the rose flowers I bought were sold immediately,” says Bhagyadhar Pradhan, a local florist.

Interestingly, the names of the Dutch flowers are catchy. The roses come in the variety of bordo, first red, shakira, gold strike, top secret, samurai, and poison among others. “While dealing in import and export of roses, we use proper nomenclatures. In the market, it is referred according to the variety and not colors. But we have no idea on how the flowers got their names. We just follow the trend,” says Kailash Behera.

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News

Lavender

Providing scent, peace and relaxation

avender is one of our oldest and best loved plants. Its scent and colour always conjures up peaceful and relaxing images, so it’s no surprise that it has been used for centuries as a natural remedy for insomnia. Despite its associations in this country with cottage gardens and stately homes such as Hidcote Manor, the plant itself is a native of hot Mediterranean and Arabic countries. Lavender has been with us for thousands of years, when Tutankhamen’s tomb was opened after 3,000 years, traces of lavender were found inside – still with a very faint scent. It is the Romans who are credited with first bringing lavender into Britain; they used it for medicinal purposes and for relaxation, bathing in water scented with lavender. In fact the name comes from ‘lavare’ which in Latin means to wash. There are 28 species of Lavender grown either for their decorative, medicinal or culinary purposes. English Lavender ‘Lavendula officinalis’ is commonly used for making scents and soaps. French Lavender, L. dentate, is kept for cooking – the darker the colour, the more intense the flavour. In aromatherapy lavender is used to treat

migraines, irritability and depression. It is also supposed to repel fleas! And if these benefits aren’t enough, Lavender is extremely popular with wildlife – especially bees. Equally happy in a container or planted in a border, Lavender plants enjoy being in full sun. They require little watering, except in a really hot spell and prefers poor, well drained soil. Almost the perfect plant for the parttime gardener! If planting into a container, good

drainage is essential, as Lavender will not tolerate sitting in water. Fill the bottom of the pot with pebbles or broken up polystyrene to allow water to run through. (Polystyrene will also make the pot lighter and easier to move). Stand the container on pot feet to help drainage. To prevent Lavender from becoming ‘leggy’ prune back hard in the autumn, within a hands distance of woody growth. Courtesy: Interflora, UK

Nepali entrepreneurs set up firm to promote cut-flower trade

ntrepreneurs involved in flower business have set up a company to promote cut flower business in Nepal. They have established ‘Global Flora’ during a programme organised recently. The company will work for promoting cut flower business in the country, said former president of Floriculture Association of Nepal (FAN) Minarwa Bista. “The company will motivate people to invest in cut flower business,” she said, adding that it will achieve its target since most of the promoters are involved in the flower business. About 50 entrepreneurs have invested a capital

of Rs. 5 million to set up the company. The investors are vice president of FAN (Kumar Kasaju), general secretary (Dilip Wade), treasurer (Min Bahadur Tamang) and former president (Sridhar Karki), she said. According to her, the company

will attract farmers, create market and expand floriculture throughout the country. “We will provide all technical support to farmers,” said an investor Sanjeev Karki. Currently, farmers of Kavre, Nuwakot, Dhading, Chitwan and Kaski districts have been cultivating cut flower. About 365 firms have been cultivating flowers in 120 hectors of land in 36 districts providing jobs to around 40,000 people. The flower business turnover was recorded at Rs 909.9 million in the fiscal year 2010-11. Demand of flower has been increasing by 15 per cent every year.

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Date of Publishing 25-26 Every Month Date of Posting 3-4 Every Month

Postal Regn. No. DL (S)- 17/3212/2012-14 R.N.I. Regn. No. 63761/96