The increase in the area under floriculture by 9 percent in the 21 years of the formation of the state of Uttarakhand is an auspicious sign for the flower growers. In view of the increasing demand for flowers in the market, the interest in flower production is increasing continuously among the farmers. Before the formation of Uttarakhand state, floriculture was cultivated in 150 hectare area in Uttarakhand. Which has increased to 1600 hectares. The area under floriculture is increasing continuously as it is not harmed by wild animals and monkeys. Farmers are producing flowers by planting poly houses under protected cultivation.
Apart from many mountainous districts including Nainital, in plain districts like Haridwar, Dehradun, Udham Singh Nagar, farmers especially those associated with floriculture produce cut flowers such as rose, marigold, tuberose, coronation, gladiolus, lilium, chrysanthemum and other varieties. Cultivating flowers. At present, 3322 metric tonnes of cut flower is being produced in Uttarakhand. Flowers worth crores of rupees are being traded from Uttarakhand to Delhi, Meerut, Kanpur, Lucknow, Chandigarh and other metropolitan cities.
Uttarakhand Horticulture Director Dr HS Baweja says that the farmers of the state are producing flowers commercially. Floriculture is being promoted by the government. This is the reason that the area under flower production is continuously increasing in the state. Floriculture can become a major source of employment in Uttarakhand. Due to being Char Dham, there is a lot of demand for flowers here. The demand for flowers is 50 to 60 tonnes in Badrinath alone, 40 to 50 tonnes in Kedarnath, 60 to 70 tonnes in Gangotri and Yamunotri every day after the doors are opened.
There is a demand of 200 tonnes of flowers every day for the four Dhams of Uttarakhand during the season. The farmers of Uttarakhand are still unable to meet this demand and flowers worth crores of rupees are imported from Delhi’s mandis to Uttarakhand. It is the effort of the state government that by giving more encouragement to floriculture, only the local farmers can fulfill this demand. Phased plans are being prepared for this. Recently, a project of 700 crores of the state has been approved by the central government. Along with linking floriculture with subsidy, the government is also linking its crop with insurance so that farmers can get the benefit of crop loss due to storm and hailstorm. The Horticulture Department has started a scheme to encourage the farmers doing district wise flower production.
Promotion of Flower Bakery Products: For the first time, stalls of flower bakery products from every district of the state were set up at Raj Bhavan for the last 18 years. Apart from this, edible flowers have also been included in the competition for the first time. The competition of pots organized for the first time was also the center of attraction. So that people can give message to the public to promote floriculture at home.