25 % of the country’s flower production
India: Floriculture in Tamil Nadu
Written by Dr. M. Kannan, Dr. M. Jawaharlal, Dr. P. Ranchana and Dr. S. Vinodh, Department of Floriculture & Landscaping, Horticulture College & Research Institute, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore – 641 041
Floriculture Scenario in India and Tamil Nadu
Floriculture has emerged as an important sub-sector of agriculture as a source of income for small and marginal farmers. Floriculture in India is estimated to cover an area of 2.55 lakh ha with a production of 17,54,000 MT of loose flowers and 5.43 lakh MT (NHB, 2015). The Trade of Indian flowers worth Rs. 37,000 crores/ annum. Nearly 77% of area under floricultural crops is concentrated in seven states comprising Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Maharastra, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi. Among different states, Tamil Nadu ranks first in area followed by Karnataka, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh.
Global trade in cut flowers is estimated at 40 billion US dollars. Indian floriculture industry is growing at a compounded annual growth rate (CGAR) of 24 per cent over the past decade. Indian flower export markets are estimated at 11 billion US dollars at present and expected to grow up to 20 billion US dollars by 2020. The culture of exchanging flower bouquets, flower arrangements, growing affluence of middle class to changing life styles, western culture mix, mall culture and the concept of “saying it with flowers” has revolutionized the domestic cut flower market by increase in per capita consumption of flowers in India. The awareness on the usage of cut flowers for various occasions has raised the demand for flowers in the market. The production of cut flowers has gone up to 7673.2 million stems during 2012-13 from 3717.5 million stems in 2006-07 and this is due to the improvement in the standard of living and quality of life which ultimately increases the growth of domestic and export markets.
In Tamil Nadu, loose flowers are produced in an area of about 32,400 hectares with the production of 3,13,535 MT (jasmine, chrysanthemum, marigold, rose, crossandra and nerium) and cut flowers are produced in an area of 700 ha with a production of 12,900 MT of cut stems per annum. In this, cut rose is grown in 600 ha area with a production of 795 lakh stems (NHB, 2013). Jasmines, which cover an area of 15,584 ha with a production of 1,42,397 tonnes contributes a major share to the floriculture trade. Tamil Nadu ranks first among the flower producing states of India. It occupies 25 % of the country’s flower production. Cut flowers are cultivated in Hosur, Nilgiris, Kodaikanal (both upper and lower palani hills) and Yercaud of Shevroyan hills.
Flower markets in Tamil Nadu
i. Madurai: Madurai has one of the biggest flower markets in India. The major flowers traded in this market include varieties of jasmine, rose, Crossandra, tuberose, Nerium, etc. The flowers arriving at this market are generally produced within a radius of 25km from the city.
ii. Chennai: The flower market in Chennai is located in the Central Market at Parrys corner. This is the only wholesale market in Chennai. The flowers sold in this market are Crossandra, tuberose, jasmine, rose, marigold, Nerium, etc. The flowers come to this market from nearby production areas such as Dharmapuri, Panrutti, Tambaram, and Poonamalei districts. The flowers are also supplied from Madurai and Bengaluru markets. About one half of the produce comes from local areas and the rest from Bengaluru and Madurai. The flowers are transported to this market by buses, trucks and air.
Tanflora
Tanflora is India’s first project in Agri Export Zone scheme (jointly run by Tamil Nadu Industries Development Corporation (TIDCO) & CCL Flowers Pvt. Ltd., Bengaluru) for cut flowers. It endeavors to develop varietal portfolio as per the market trend in Japan and Europe and facilitates export of roses round the clock. It has even evolved and patented its own rose variety for international markets namely, Taj Mahal Rose, and the same was released on May 8, 2008 in Sydney, Australia. It is located at a village namely Amudhagondapalli near Hosur (Krishnagiri District), Tamil Nadu – about 45 km from Bengaluru International Ait Port, with centralized infrastructure, state-of-the-art post-harvest logistics and marketing facilities provided by Tanflora. Flower cultivation is undertaken by 25 independent growers having 2 hectares of production area each. Total annual production capacity is 70 million rose from 50 hectares (present production level is 30 million per annum). The salient features of the project are: Tanflora made a lay-out on 250 acres of land, developed 50 hectares of production facilities, divided the project into 25 units of 2 hectares each (total 50 hectares) and retained 4 hectares for self production, thus creating the total production facilities to 54 hectares. Besides, Tanflora provides its 25 growers: (i) central packing house – 80000 sq.ft. of fully insulated building to handle and process fresh cut roses, (ii) 19000 sq.ft of CFC free state-of-the art cold room, (iii) Tanflora – maintained uninterrupted cold chain with the help of dock shelters and packaging in cold rooms, (iv) infrastructure facilities like roads, drains, water, technical support, one stop shop, laboratory etc., (v) rainwater harvesting facilities with the installed capacity to harvest over 100 million litres, (vi) common fertigation and drip irrigation facilities leading to great economies in the use of water and other inputs, and (vii) on-farm professional expertise and monitoring in the production process round the year. The packing, logistics and marketing are undertaken by Tanflora under its brand name. Revenue is shared between Tanflora and the growers in 25:75 ratio on FOB basis.