AgriBiz
Floriculture Startups: Let’s revive the fragrance of Kashmir
Published
2 years agoon
By
BK Editor

A rapidly growing agri-industrial sector, Floriculture has an annual market share of Rs 15,000 crore in India with a yearly growth of 25%. Given the favourable climatic conditions, J&K has enormous potential for commercial floriculture. A detailed account of the present scenario of the sector and its prospectus of becoming a sunrise industry in Kashmir.
Economic aspect
Floriculture is a rapidly growing agri-industrial sector around the world, particularly as a potential money-maker for many countries. Many flowers and ornamental plants are planted for both domestic and international markets. They generate more returns per hectare area than any other agricultural commodity. The extraction of essential oils and the production of cost-effective products like Gulkand are both extremely beneficial. On a commercial scale, more than 145 industries are currently involved in flower cultivation. The establishment of the flower industry and perfume companies can contribute significantly to the reduction of unemployment. In 2014-15, the floriculture industry cultivated 248.51 thousand hectares of land. In 2016-17, the country exported 22086.10 MT of floriculture products to the world, valued at Rs 548.74 crores (US$82.05 million). Floriculture has become one of the most important commercial businesses in Indian agriculture due to considerable growth in demand for low-cost and loose flowers. India is ranked 18th in the world, with a 0.6 percent share of the global floriculture trade. Exports grew at a CAGR of 4.33 percent over the last decade. In the country as a whole, the domestic Indian market is growing at a 25% rate each year.
Aesthetic aspect
Landscaping is a billion-dollar-a-year industry in many states, and it ultimately adds to the monetary worth of any property. The health of a nation’s population is tied to its riches. We can safeguard the healthy development of our residents by offering open breathing spaces through bio-aesthetic planning and landscape gardening, as seen in Chandigarh. Horticulture therapy is a new level of horticulture science that uses garden, landscape plants, components of plants, and growing activity as tools to heal psychic debility. Bio aesthetic horticulture is emerging as a new occupational therapeutic tool to restore the lost rhythm and harmony to the human self or inner environment because the bio-force of plants offers a lasting solution to the problems of human bio-force. It’s used in psychiatric hospitals, general hospitals, physical rehabilitation centres, jails, schools, and senior living facilities.
Development of floriculture in India
The Indian government has designated floriculture as a sunrise sector with a 100% export-oriented status. Floriculture has become one of the most important commercial trades in agriculture as a result of the continual increase in demand. Floriculture is seen as a high-growth business in India. The liberalisation of industrial and trade policies set the door for the expansion of cut flower exports. Importing planting material of international standard was previously possible under the new seed policy. Commercial floriculture has been discovered to have a larger potential per unit area than other field crops, making it a profitable industry. The liberalised economy has encouraged Indian businesses to set up export-oriented floriculture operations in climate-controlled environments. In 2016-17, the Indian floriculture sector was worth Rs 9000 crore. In 2018, the Indian floriculture market was valued at Rs15700 crore. The market is expected to reach Rs 47200 crore by 2024, with a 20 percent CAGR between 2019 and 2024.
Rose, Jasmine, Orchid, Glardlya, Carnations, and Marigolds are popular commercial flowers with a total cropped area of 71 lakh acres in 2016-17. Since the last five years, it has grown at a CAGR of 25%. In 2016-17, total production was 22.36 lakh MT, with loose flowers accounting for over 69 percent of total production. India’s main export markets are the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and the Arab Emirates.
Opportunities
The demand for flowers is expanding at a quick rate as the level of living rises and people’s lifestyles change as a result of socio-economic changes in India. Encouraged by the rapid increase in domestic demand, a substantial number of export-oriented floriculture projects are looking to the domestic market to sell their produce during lean export seasons. In various big cities and industrial townships, there is a rapidly growing demand for different varieties of flowers for institutional buyers such as star hotels, big organisations and corporate houses, churches, temples, mosques, travel agencies, hospitals, embassies and trade missions, foreign organisations and organisations in the hospitality industry, and so on. A burgeoning flower market at the local, national, and international levels, where demand exceeds supply and global demand is expected to expand at a rate of 15 percent to 25 percent per year. Because industrialised countries rely heavily on imports to meet domestic demand, their high manufacturing costs present an opportunity.
The majority of major flower-producing countries are now industrialised and have a tiny surface area. As a result, the cost of acquiring land is quite high, making it unappealing to establish floriculture units in these nations. As a result, India has a huge opportunity to capitalise on the floriculture industry.
Floriculture Startup opportunities in Kashmir
In the current context, the floriculture business has emerged as one of the most popular startup ideas. The economy has suffered a severe dip as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, and many employees have lost their employment. Still, a large number of unemployed teenagers are looking for any unique company concept that will provide them with a source of income. This type of business has huge potential to survive and grow and prove mettle in the competitive environment.
Floriculture is a fantastic opportunity for anyone who loves gardening and wants to put their heart and soul into it. It is possible to get profitable financial results by operating a flower farming business or startup. Technical knowledge is not required for people interested in starting a floriculture business. Having the basic knowledge about floriculture and other simple concepts concerning running a business would be enough to commence this business anywhere in India.
Floriculture has been nurtured as a money-making Agri-business inside India’s geographical limitations.
Floriculture includes
- Annual, biennial & perennial ornamentals, such as cacti as well as other succulents
- Trees
- Shrubs
- Bromeliads
- Lawn and ornamental grasses
- Bamboos
- Climbers
- Bulbous plants
- Orchids
- Foliage
- Bedding
- Pot and house plants
- Palms
- Cycads
- Cut and loose flowers seed
- Bulb production of ornamentals
- Fillers
- Ferns
- Dried flowers or plant parts
- Other value-added products such as edible pigments, extraction of essential oils & their marketing, as well.
Steps for Floriculture Startup
Developing your Startup Business Plan
- Before initiating any business, you must fabricate a sound business plan.
- You must acquire cooling equipment such as a freezer to keep your flowers fresh and beautiful and increase their shelf life as the life span of flowers is otherwise small.
- You must also examine the manpower requirement that you might demand to design the floral arrangement and for the delivery purpose as well.
- Either you want to proceed ahead for a franchise or source to commence your business like flower companies or florists.
- There is no need for proper mentoring before initiating the floriculture business, as this is all about basic knowledge, and no bookish concepts can help you develop your potential to run this business.
- Create a well-structured plan before stepping ahead for starting a floriculture business in India. You may open your shop in your locality.
- If you are planning to transform your dream into reality, you would have to pen down your thoughts on paper and do proper planning before going ahead.
- Prepare the idea concerning the capital requirement for the floriculture business.
- Check out the crucial factors, such as the floral delivery platform to give the finishing touch to your business plan.
- You may also evaluate the staff requirements that you would have to prepare and leap forward to the floral arrangement plans and deliveries.
Government Programmes and Schemes
The Department of Agriculture and Cooperation, which is part of the Ministry of Agriculture, is the nodal institution in charge of floriculture development. It is in charge of developing and implementing national policies and programmes targeted at attaining rapid agricultural expansion by maximising the country’s land, water, soil, and plant resources. A thrust area for support is the production of cut flowers for export. The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), the nodal institution for promoting agri-exports, including flowers, has launched several programmes aimed at boosting the country’s floriculture exports. These include infrastructural development, packaging, market growth, airfreight subsidies for the export of cut flowers and tissue-cultured plants, database upgrades, and so on.100% Export Oriented Units are also eligible for incentives such as duty-free capital goods imports. Import duties on cut flowers, flower seeds, tissue-cultured plants, and other items have also been decreased. The installation of walk-in cold storage for export production has been permitted at international airports. At many international airports, initiatives have been initiated to aid exporters by offering cold storage and cargo handling facilities for perishable products. In cold storage units, a direct subsidy of up to 50% is also available. APEDA also provides a subsidy on improved packaging materials to encourage their use.
NABARD is offering financial support to hi-tech units at reasonable interest rates to encourage entrepreneurship in the floriculture sector. The government has launched several schemes to promote and develop the floriculture sector, including “Integrated Development of Commercial Floriculture,” which aims to improve traditional flower and cut flower production and productivity through the availability of quality planting material, as well as the production of the off-season and high-quality flowers through protected cultivation., improvement in post-harvest handling of flowers and training persons for scientific floriculture. Many state governments have established distinct ministries to promote floriculture in their jurisdictions.
The floriculture business is a great option for those who get fascinated and lured by the mesmerising beauty of flowers. It’s a business that holds immense potential in the current scenario. It provides an opportunity for the youth to take up floriculture as a startup and begin their journey of profitable business in Jammu and Kashmir. By gearing for this innovative business. By spreading joy and fragrance in people’s lives.
An agri-business expert, Naveed Bhat is the business development analyst at Innovation & Entrepreneurship Cell, SKUAST-Kashmir
You may like
-
Global eCommerce boom and local traders of Kashmir
-
Levying property tax for creation of better infrastructure: SMC Commissioner
-
Industrial Association Lassipora dismayed over ‘unprofessional behaviour’ of J&K Bank branch manager
-
SKUAST-K launches anticancer functional foods startup
-
Desist from levying commitment charges: FCIK to J&K Bank
-
Kashmir Angel Network holds discussion on startup expectations
AgriBiz
Deteriorating legacy of saffron industry in Kashmir
Published
3 months agoon
December 8, 2022By
BK Editor

Athar Ayoub
Dhaar Mehak M
Saffron industry in Kashmir
One of the oldest and yielding family occupations prevalent in the valley of Kashmir has been the cultivation of Saffron. The karewas of Pampore are internationally known for the quality and quantity of saffron across the world. Through the ups and downs of time and periods of natural and man-prompted disasters, this sector has been quietly yielding a stable and rather steadily growing output over the period of time. Generations after generation have been associated with the cultivation and rearing of saffron. People across the binary gender, residing predominantly in the Pampore area have been habitually and evolutionarily working in this sector.
On the technical side, though India ranks second only after Iran in terms of productivity of cultivation in Saffron it ranks seven. This points to the existence of huge inefficiency in the saffron production of the country. For years at a stretch, there has been under-production happening in the saffron production of the country. More than 90% of India’s saffron cultivation comes from Kashmir, estimated to be around 15.04 metric tonnes (MT) for the year 2021. However, for the last fifty years, there has been a considerable decline in both the cultivable land and the overall Saffron productivity in the valley of Kashmir. While in the year 2009, the total area under cultivation for Saffron was 2667 hectares with a production of 5.61 tonnes, almost a decade earlier in 1997 it was 5707 hectares and 15.97 tonnes respectively. These numbers highlight a decline of 114% in area and 184% in yield in a time period as short in span as 12 years.
For years at a stretch, there has been under-production happening in the saffron production of the country. More than 90% of India’s saffron cultivation comes from Kashmir, estimated to be around 15.04 metric tonnes (MT) for the year 2021. However, for the last fifty years, there has been a considerable decline in both the cultivable land and the overall Saffron productivity in the valley of Kashmir. While in the year 2009, the total area under cultivation for Saffron was 2667 hectares with a production of 5.61 tonnes, almost a decade earlier in 1997 it was 5707 hectares and 15.97 tonnes respectively. These numbers highlight a decline of 114% in area and 184% in yield in a time period as short in span as 12 years.
Results like these are an outcome of a number of factors that have cumulated over the years. Some of the most commonly identified factors include; lack of availability of good-quality corms as seed material, poor soil fertility, lack of assured irrigation, infestation by rodents and diseases, poor postharvest management, improper marketing facilities, increased urbanization on saffron land, the helplessness of the Government in checking adulteration and clandestine smuggling of cheap saffron (allegedly from Iran), which is later sold and marketed in the name of Kashmir saffron.
The saffron growers reveal that in contemporary times the causes of less productivity across the Kashmir region are: climate change, non-availability of timely irrigation and information asymmetry between those framing the policies for the farmers and the farmers themselves. Though the government has been initiating measures to revamp the damage, the Saffron cultivators conclude that almost 60% of the land under which saffron is cultivated was brought under a pipeline network scheduled to irrigate the land. However, in practice, the project has been full of flaws and thus ended up failing miserably. Leaving the land yet again to the mercy of timely and untimely rains. The saffron growers in the first place lack scientific knowledge, do not have access to modern know-how and technology and at the same time lack all sorts of trust over the government. One such typical example is the sale of hybrid saffron corms that the government announced some years ago. Given the mistrust between the people and the government, it was rumoured that the sowing of the hybrid saffron corm distributed by the department of agriculture will transfer the private property rights of the owners to the government. As a result, the vast majority of saffron cultivators didn’t take those corms and the productivity and output ended up remaining under-attained.
Whatever interventions the government and administration intend to make, the campaign of enhancing the productivity of saffron would not bear the desired results unless for starters a certain level of trust is established between the saffron cultivators and the government. Following this, facilities for assured irrigation need to be created, at least at the pre-sprouting and pre-flowering stages. Irrigation facilitates lead quick activation of buds, further leading to the corm sprouting and the eventual timely flower initiation. An empirical study by Nehvi (2004), and Nehvi and Makhdoomi (2007b) bring forth the fact that an annual saffron crop requires an average of 10 irrigations, and needs to be sprinkler irrigated for seven days at the sprouting stage (which is approximately around 25th August to 15th September) followed by three irrigations at the post-flowering stage (around 8th to 30th November) at weekly intervals.
In a recent and rather unusual move, the Government of India initiated a National Saffron Mission (year) with a financial outlay of Rs 3.74 billion for resolving the saffron crisis in Kashmir through different programmes. This program includes rejuvenating saffron farms by corm re-planting, digging bore wells for irrigation, and setting up a modern Saffron Park with a quality control laboratory for providing adequate marketing cover to saffron growers, thus eliminating exploitation by middlemen. However, from the ground, there are mixed reactions and opinions coming from the farmers about the initiation and implementation of the mission. The actual attained outcome from this mission and its various programs is yet to be ascertained for success or failure. Saffron Industry in Kashmir.
Case-Study
“The JK Agro” is a registered saffron firm which has been gainfully employing generations of the Khanday family from Pampore. It has been around six years since the third generation has overtaken the business. The upcoming generations from the saffron families have been trying to expand and diversify the business. One of the most common channels has been through proper marketing, e-marketing and processing of the saffron and allied products. JK Agro, in an attempt to expand, has been making huge investments. But the major hurdle faced by it in attaining the expected growth has been the declining productivity of output. As a result, the younger generation of small and medium-scale saffron farmers have steadily been moving out from the industry and instead looking for other sources of employment. However, families like Khanday’s are of the opinion that complete dependency on saffron might not be enough to fulfil their subsistence needs and hence are trying hard to find jobs distant from their ancestral domain…
Given the various facets discussed above, the broader conclusion drawn is that the decline in the cultivable land and productivity of saffron in Kashmir is the basic reason behind the ever-increasing crisis in the heritage-saffron industry of Kashmir. The most appropriate channel to win back the industry and the people associated with it is to stake strict actions towards the restoration of the karewas land and to scientifically enhance the overall productivity of the saffron in the Kashmir region.
The authors are affiliated with the Department of Economics, Islamic University of Science and Technology and can be reached at dhaarmehak@gamil.com
AgriBiz
Digital marketing skill training for agri-startups commences at SKUAST-K
Published
3 months agoon
December 5, 2022By
BK Editor

BK News
Srinagar, Dec 5: A weeklong advanced management development programme (AMDP) on ‘Digital Marketing Skills for Agri-Startups’ commenced on Monday at Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir Shalimar campus.
The seven-day digital marketing training is organised by SKUAST-K’s School of Agricultural Economics and Horti-Business Management, Faculty of Horticulture under the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sponsorship.
Vice Chancellor, SKUAST-K, Prof Nazir Ahmad Ganai, who was the chief guest at the inaugural function, emphasised upon outcome-based delivery of the programme and suggested that each participant should be evaluated in each session to ensure better assimilation of the content. Pointing out the existence of a 95% unskilled labour force, he stressed the need for required digital skills. He informed that SKUAST-K will be shortly starting the three-month programme on Digital Marketing in collaboration with DMI, Australia. He asked the participants to take full advantage of the resource persons, who have come from the reputed institutions of the country like IITs.
Director, Planning and Monitoring, Prof Haroon Rashid Naik emphasized imparting precision to the conduct of Advanced-MDP and desired industrial representation and participation in these programmes.
Dean, Faculty of Horticulture, Prof Shabir Ahmad Wani highlighted the need for encouragement of gender-based digital spaces. He also stressed the need for the utilisation of digital spaces for farm-based products.
Head, School of Agricultural Economics and Horti-Business Management, Prof SH Baba, in his welcome address, gave an overview of the programme. He brought out the need for acquiring high-end digital and IT skills for switching to new market jobs by 2030-31 in view of apprehension of job losses due to automation.
Assistant Director, MSME Development and Facilitation Office Srinagar Branch, Ministry of MSME, Saheel Yaqoob Allaqband, who addressed the gathering via online mode, gave a brief account on the importance of Advanced-MDP suggested that the participants should be trained in innovative DPR formulation and attract funding options for their business units.
SKUAST-K’s Director Extension Prof Dil Mohammad Makhdoomi, Director Education Prof MN Khan, Director Research Prof Sarfaraz Ahmad Wani and many other HOD and officers of the university were present at the occasion. The organising secretary of the programme, Dr Omar Fayaz Khan, presented the vote of thanks.
About 30 participants from FPOs, food processing units, Agri-supply chains, aspiring agripreneurs and students are participating in the training.
Under the sponsorship of the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), SKUAST-K is conducting 66 advanced skill development courses for entrepreneurship in various agricultural and allied vocations.
AgriBiz
Can kiwi cultivation prove alternative to apple production in Kashmir?
Published
4 months agoon
November 28, 2022By
BK Editor

Dhaar Mehak M
Misbah Bashir
The horticulture sector is seen as the backbone of the Kashmir economy steadily replacing the tourism sector in terms of sustainability and future prospectus. Given the environmental feasibility, Kashmir has been identified as one of India’s most dynamic horticulture hotspots. During the final decades of the 20th century, the region of Kashmir has seen a steady shift from paddy cultivation to apple cultivation. For quite some time the output and outcomes from the orchards of Kashmir have been high. This has ushered in a wave of optimism and people have been heavily investing in high-yielding apple varieties. More or less on an annual basis, people have revealed satisfaction with the outcomes.
The year 2022 has been identified as a bumper year of apple production in Kashmir (apart from other horticulture products). The apple blooms in spring were studied and identified by the experts where it was predicted that the year from across the valley was going to deliver a bumper crop. A wave of happiness ad optimism ran in the supply chain from orchardists to the dealers. Given the demand and pricing trends of previous years, the expected outcomes from 2022 were anticipated to surpass the mean value of the previous decades by a double-digit. However, as the output was ready and entered the market, the returning price was the lowest registered in the previous decade. Among many other factors, a predominant factor behind this was the bulk Indian import of Iranian and Turkish Apples that captured the market and wiped out the demand for Kashmiri apples.
Looking through an alternative economic and horticultural lens, the complete reliance on apples as the sole and dominant outcome of the horticulture sector in Kashmir is a risk of putting all the eggs in one basket. The first step to diversification has been identified as a steady production of kiwi fruit. In contemporary times the only state that is producing kiwis in India is Himachal Pradesh. Lately, Himachal orchardists have realized that diversification is important, and the immediate consequence has been a steady shift to kiwi production. The environmental conditions in both Himachal and Kashmir are equally preferable for kiwi production.
In the first week of November the average price of 18 kgs of Apples in Sopore Mandi peaked at Rs.350 which doesn’t even cover the half basic price of production. Quite contrary to this, one unit of kiwi costs Rs.35 in the local market and one kiwi plant yields 70 kg of kiwis on an average. One kg of dried Kiwis costs Rs.1800 in the market. And the demand for kiwis is very high both in the national and the international markets.
At the moment, SKUAST-K is actively researching in the direction of improvising the kiwi plantation suitable specifically to the Kashmir region. Simultaneously, sale of the kiwi trees is carried-out from time to time. Lately a small number of orchardists from the Baramulla and Sopore area of North Kashmir have been steadily diversifying towards kiwi production. However, during their experimental stages, they are more than happy with their outcomes. The market value of the output has been promising and so is the durability of the output. The kiwi packaging however is different from that of the apple packages and the kiwi farmers of Kashmir complain that at the moment they are not able to find the required packaging solutions.
The authors are affiliated to the Department of Economics, Islamic University of Science and Technology Awantipora & can be reached at dhaarmehak@gmail.com & misb



Global eCommerce boom and local traders of Kashmir



Levying property tax for creation of better infrastructure: SMC Commissioner



Industrial Association Lassipora dismayed over ‘unprofessional behaviour’ of J&K Bank branch manager


SKUAST-K launches anticancer functional foods startup



Desist from levying commitment charges: FCIK to J&K Bank


Kashmir Angel Network holds discussion on startup expectations


Deteriorating legacy of saffron industry in Kashmir


Digital marketing skill training for agri-startups commences at SKUAST-K


Kashmir Angel Network strikes KANversations



7 out of 10 industrial centres in Kashmir headless: FCIK



Industrial Association Lassipora dismayed over ‘unprofessional behaviour’ of J&K Bank branch manager



Levying property tax for creation of better infrastructure: SMC Commissioner



Global eCommerce boom and local traders of Kashmir
Trending
-
Industry2 years ago
FCIK hails LG Sinha for creating entrepreneur-friendly industrial ecosystem
-
Energy2 years ago
Lt Governor discusses J&K power scenario with experts
-
Infra2 years ago
SKUAST-K bags EU project for urban green infrastructure
-
AgriBiz2 years ago
SKUAST-K to set up 3 honey testing labs in Kashmir
-
Careers2 years ago
SKUAST-K holds career counselling at Wadura campus
-
Economy2 years ago
Lt Governor announces new industrial policy for J&K
-
Industry2 years ago
Imran Murtaza takes oath as president Industrial Association Khunmoh
-
Tech2 years ago
NIT Srinagar launches PG course in ‘Technology, Innovation, and Entrepreneurial Dynamics’