Chapter 1 - Importance and Scope of Floriculture and landscaping
Floriculture is a branch of horticulture concerned with the production, utilization andmarketing of flowers and ornamental plants along with the beautification of surrounding i.e.landscaping. Floriculture crops include bedding and flowering plants, foliage plants, edgesand hedges, climbers, cactus and succulents, cut greens and cut flowers. Flowers may begrouped as cut flowers or loose flowers. The flower with a substantial stem is known as a cut flower whereas stemless flowers are loose flowers. The floriculture sector is experiencing rapid changes due to globalization and its effect on income regeneration in different parts of the world is resulting in rising per capita consumption of flowers in most countries. Besides, the traditional centres of production (U.S.A., Japan, Italy, The Netherlands and Columbia), new production centres are developing in Latin America, Africa and Asia with the quick increase in production. Asian countries like India, China, Vietnam and many others are moving in the direction of more intensive floriculture.
Importance
It is a fast emerging commercial agri-business which due to its diverse importance is an integral part of religious, social and cultural ceremonies. Besides decoration, it is a symbol of our Indian culture, tradition and heritage. The traditional flower business comprises of cultivation of almost loose flowers and in fact, it is the backbone of the marginal and small farmers of India. The sale of loose flowers like jasmine, crossandra, marigold, china aster, chrysanthemums, Barleria and gaillardia is a roaring business in south India. Modern-day floriculture refers to the production of high-value cut flowers such as rose, gladiolus, carnation, mums, orchids, tuberose, anthurium, Lilium, gerbera, alstroemeria and bird of paradise. Nowadays, the growth of these cut flower crops, suited for flower arrangements/decorations for bouquets preparation, gift and for floral baskets, have increased substantially and its share of the total trade has also improved. In terms of monetary gain, flowers are highly economic crops which has a wide potential in the foreign market if produced qualitatively. It provides more return/unit area than any other agricultural/horticultural crops. These are short-duration crops whose yield is also higher per unit area. This sector generates employment as professors, landscape architects, nursery managers, entrepreneurship, agri-business manager, grower, supplier and consultants. It has more productivity and bears 25-30% more foreign exchange earning capacity than cereal crops.
Floriculture has emerged as an important sector for the diversification of agriculture.
Floriculture generates self-employment opportunities around the year. It has chances of employment, especially for women. Besides its beauty in fresh form, it yields essential oils, pigments, extracts, value-added products, flavouring agents and durable gift items. There is a lot of demand for good quality flower seeds and ornamental planting materials.
Aromatherapy is the new dimension of horticultural sciences to heal the psychic disability. Floriculture as a therapeutic tool is now being utilized in psychiatric hospitals and physical rehabilitation centres against depression and other psychological ailments.
The government of India has identified the floriculture sector as the most extreme focus area for export. It is now treated like cash crops which besides the above uses can be successfully utilized in pharmaceutical and perfumery companies. Floricultural crops have more chances of export in foreign markets. It has an annual growth potential of 25-30%. It maintains the ecological balance and checks environmental pollution. Flowers symbolize purity, beauty, peace, love, adoration, innocence and passion. Hence, many flowers are used to express the most sensitive, delicate and loving feelings eloquently what our words fail to express.
Scope/Strength of Indian Floricultural Industry
- Central geographic location to the major flower consumption centres Diverse agro-climatic conditions.
- Rich gene pool.
- Natural habitat for many ornamental species: Superiority of many of the species in terms of desirable horticultural traits. Low labour cost in comparison to the European countries.
- Fast-growing domestic market and export demand.
- Recent liberal Government policies in the floriculture sector.
- Subsidy on airfreight for export of cut flowers and tissue-cultured plants: Deduction in import duties on cut flowers, flower seeds and tissue-cultured plants. Setting up of walk-in type cold storage at the International airports. Direct subsidy of up to 50 per cent of the precooling and cold storage units is available, as well as subsidy for using improved packaging material is given by APEDA.
- Refinance assistance is available from NABARD to a number of hi-tech units at a reasonable interest rate: Among other things, flower Auction Centres are also coming up in Bangalore, Mumbai, Noida, near Delhi, and Kolkata. These are ready-made market facilities for trading and price discovery for a variety of flowers, both for export and domestic markets
“Six Agri Export Zones have been set up in the states of Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Uttaranchal, Karnataka and Maharashtra. APEDA has also taken a number of measures to facilitate floriculture exports."
Floriculture has a significant role to play in the development of Indian agriculture. Indian entry in export-oriented floriculture is appreciable. The potentiality is abundant. Though the entry is late, yet it provides a lot of opportunities. For the growth of this nascent industry, there is a need to exploit all resources – internal and external. The prerequisite for the success of floriculture is a low-cost investment, self-developed technologies at minimum cost and good management with study of the market.
Availability of natural resources, diverse agro-climatic conditions and fertility of the soil has created wide potentialities for floriculture in India. But despite the favourable natural conditions, the country has not been able to achieve significant growth in floriculture. It has not been able to find its place in the world trade of floriculture due to various reasons. The lack of adequate and appropriate technology for export-oriented floriculture units is an important factor that needs to be addressed. Over the changing period, changing lifestyles and world becoming shorter on account of faster communications and transport, floriculture has assumed a definite commercial status in recent times. Hence, commercial floriculture is blossoming as a viable agribusiness alternative.
Floriculture in India is being viewed as a rapidly growing industry. Commercial floriculture is becoming important from the export angle. The liberalization of industrial and trade policies paved the way for the development of export-oriented production of cut flowers.The new seed policy had already made it feasible to import planting material of international varieties.
The government of India offers tax benefits to new export-oriented floriculture companies in the form of income-tax holidays and exemption from certain import duties. Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) is responsible for export promotion and development of floriculture in India, grants subsidies for establishing cold storage, precooling units, refrigerated vans and greenhouses and air freight subsidy to exports. It has been found that commercial floriculture has higher potential per unit area than most of the field crops and is, therefore, a lucrative business.
Landscaping which was only art and science in the earlier days has now emerged as a huge industry. With the importance and need of landscaping in beautifying and conserving the environment is strongly felt now, the concept of landscaping and gardening is growing rapidly. Gardens have become essential to modern civilization. The gardens serve the purpose of public recreation and education. They serve to refresh the body and the mind. Home gardening is an integral part of family life and it lends itself for the family to relax and enjoy the nature and beauty of the garden. This field of landscaping is slowly gaining momentum in our country especially in big cities. The government has also established many parks and a few Botanic gardens in our country.
Importance and scope of Medicinal and aromatic plants
Aromatic plants: Aromatic plants are those plants that contain essential oils in them. This essential oil is the odoriferous steam, a volatile constituent of the aromatic plant.
Oils are usually present in the aerial part of plants such as flowers, fruits and leaves. Occasionally, they also accumulate in roots and woods eg. Vetiver and Sandalwood, respectively
Most of the commercial essential oil-bearing plants belong to the families Labiatae, Myrtaceae, Rutaceae, Compositae, Rosaceae, Umbelliferae, Poaceae and Pinaceae
Important aromatic plants- Lemongrass, Palmarosagrass, Vetiver, Geranium, Mints, Ocimum, Patchouli, Lavender, Sandal Wood, Rose, Davana etc.
Importance of Aromatic Plants
1. In the food and flavour industry to improve the flavour of the food.
2. In perfumery, soap, agarbatti and cosmetics.
3. Pharmaceutical and drug industries.
4. To manufacture pesticides, disinfectants due to their antifungal, antiseptic and insecticidal properties.
5. In the paint industry – as solvents.
6. Distilled wastes are used in the manufacture of cardboard, cheap paper, and
packing material.
7. Some of the important aromatic plants like lemongrass, Citronella, Palmarosagrass, Vetiver, Geranium, Lavender, Dawana etc. have great demand in our country.
Area and Production of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants
(During 2016-17) according to NHB, 2017: Area- 634.00 (in ‘000 ha)
Production- 1030.85 (in ‘000 MT)
Important Organizations
NAMPB- National Aromatic and Medicinal Plant Board is situated in New Delhi
CIMAP- Central Institute for Medicinal and Aromatic Plants is located at Lucknow
NRC for MAP- National research centre for Medicinal and Aromatic Plants are located at Anand, Gujarat
