J&K Government takes steps to help floriculture industry blossom: approves major project to boost commercial floriculture

SRINAGAR, JANUARY 26: Jammu and Kashmir has long been known for its rich and diverse agri-ecozones, making it an ideal location for the growth of a thriving floriculture industry. However, despite this potential, the sector has not been able to make a significant contribution to the horticulture economy in the region. The main reasons for this are the small number of growers and enterprises, lack of aggregation platforms, and weak post-harvest and branding efforts. But the good news is that the J&K Government has recently approved a new project to boost commercial floriculture in the region.

“The Indian floriculture industry has been shifting from traditional flowers to cut flowers for export purposes. India has a dynamic Rs 15,000 crore domestic floriculture sector which exported produce worth Rs. 771.41 crores in 2021-22.Moreover, commercial floriculture has higher potential per unit area than most of the field crops and is therefore a lucrative business.”, said Atal Dulloo, Additional Chief Secretary, Agriculture Production Department.

“One of the key focuses of the project is cluster-based area expansion of small ornamental nurseries, which will help to increase output and productivity.

The project shall undertake protected cultivation of cut flowers, aromatic plants, loose flowers, and bulbous ornamental crops, as well as annual flower seed production. The project also includes technology upgrades for existing ornamental nurseries, building aggregation platforms, and post-harvest interventions like on-farm distillation units, seed processing units, walk-in cold storage, transport, branding, and marketing efforts.” he added.

“Promotion of commercial floriculture in UT of J&K” is one among the 29 projects, which were approved by the Jammu and Kashmir administration after being recommended by the UT Level Apex Committee for holistic development of Agriculture and Allied Sectors in UT of J&K.

The prestigious committee is headed by Dr Mangala Rai, Former DG ICAR and has other luminaries in the field of Agriculture, Planning, Statistics & Administration like Ashok Dalwai, CEO NRAA, Dr. P. K Joshi, Secretary, NAAS, Dr. Prabhat Kumar, Horticulture Commissioner MOA & FW, Dr. H. S Gupta, Former Director, IARI, Atal Dulloo, Additional Chief Secretary, Agriculture Production Department apart from the Vice Chancellors of the twin Agriculture Universities of the UT.

The new project aims to address the challenges facing the floriculture industry in J&K through a number of interventions and strategies. The objectives of the project include increasing output from the pre-COVID levels of Rs 28 crores to around Rs. 85 crores per year in the next four years, supporting each production cluster with end-to-end value chain, post-harvest, and processing facilities, branding, and market access, and capacity building of human resources for increasing employment in floriculture and allied sectors.

The project shall restore 2.25 ha of area under cut flower production apart from adding 24 ha of nursery area, creating four clusters (85ha) for lavender cultivation, increasing the area under loose flower production, and expanding the area under seed/bulb production. It also includes exposure visits and trainings for stakeholders, and business development and contract farming agreements with breeder and seed companies.

The project’s key outputs include upgrading 54 nursery units to high-tech operations, re-operationalizing 150 units, adding an additional 400 ha of area under cultivation (total 587 ha), creating 330 new enterprises, and training 2000 new growers in aromatic flower & bulb/seed production. It also aims to produce over 27 crore ornamental nursery plants &4000 L of aromatic oils worth Rs 4.8 crores annually (from 5^th year)and undertake skilling of 4000 growers in cluster mode. The total outlay of the project is Rs. 39.03 crores.The project’s expected outcome includes generating 2000 direct employment and creating 330 new enterprises.

Overall, the new project represents a major step forward for the floriculture industry in J&K. With a focus on cluster-based area expansion, technology upgrades, and post-harvest and marketing efforts, the project has the potential to help establish a sustainable and profitable floriculture industry in the region. It is hoped that this project will help to create new opportunities for growers and entrepreneurs, and will contribute to the overall economic development of J&K.