Flowers have always been an integral part of Indian culture and society. With globalization and free market economy, floriculture has attained an industrial status and has gained tremendous momentum in the last few years. However, this sector is still in a nascent stage of development and accounts for a negligible share in the global exports.
Floriculture is a viable and profitable alternative for the new generation of farmers. By recognizing its full potential, India has a fair chance of attaining a strong position on the world floriculture platform. Commercial floriculture includes cut flowers, flowering plants, bedding plants and foliage plants.
Commercial cut flowers are cultivated in greenhouses, shade houses and outdoors. The floriculturists have to manipulate environmental factors to produce marketable flowers or foliage pots out of season. Water temperature, light and essential elements are controlled entirely or partially. A suitable agro climatic condition has been the primary production factor that encompassed the desired comparative advantage for India in terms of reduction in cost of establishment and production of cut flowers.
Although the cultivation of modern flowers like hi tech roses, gerberas, carnations gladiolus, orchids and anthuriums has better income and employment prospects the capital intensive nature of their cultivation and the presence of a number of uneconomically sized farms have, in fact, preserved the cultivation of traditional flowers under open field conditions, such as cultivation of rose, chrysanthemum, marigold, crossandra, aster and tuberose, especially for domestic markets.