Organisers and interior decorators won’t have the kind of luxury to afford this year as they used to have earlier in adding to the grandness of an event with a variety of exotic flowers following the floriculture sector finding it tough to cope with the prevailing adverse weather conditions in Uttarakhand.
Uttarakhand is today increasingly becoming a hub for exotic flowers. The potential scope for consumption of the flowers both in the domestic as well as international markets, has only given the much-needed confidence to the progressive farmers here to take to the unconventional mode of farming of late.
But the incessant rain that the mountain State has been experiencing since mid-June this year has created adverse atmospheric conditions for the flowers to attain requisite growth this year at a time when the they need extremely favourable climatic conditions. Heavy rainfall adversely affects growth of a flower plant.
More so, such rainy conditions also cause huge damage to the root zone of the flower plants, said Dr. Ranjan Srivastav, Associate Professors, the floriculture department of the GB Pant University of Agriculture and Technology (GBPUAT), while talking to The Pioneer in an exclusive interview.
That is why the farmers engaged in floriculture farming need to ensure proper disposal of water from the root zone of a flower plant as the flower plant need very less water, he added. Besides, the present atmospheric conditions coupled with rainy season also give rise to various kinds of fungicide and bacterial diseases.
Therefore, the flower growers need to take necessary steps to protect their corps from these diseases, advised the scientist. Experts and farmers here said that unlike different varieties of the Kharib and Rabi crops, flowers need rather temperate climatic conditions to grow.
More so, as they further say, contrary to traditional crops, floriculture produces need even less amount of water. Given the ongoing adverse weather conditions, it seems even favourable climatic conditions coupled with moist soil of Uttarakhand’s foothills have proved to be ineffective to protect the flowers from nature’s fury this year, said Harish lamba, a Bhimtal-based farmer.
Since harvesting of most of the flowers take place post rainy season and during winter, therefore, this is the high time for the farmers to take necessary measures to protect their crops, he said. The damage caused to the floriculture sector by the natural calamity, could be reduced to some extent even if the prevailing rainy conditions now start improving, he hoped. Some exquisite varieties of flowers like carnation, lily, gladiolus, gerbera to name are grown in a big way here in different parts of the hill State.
If not the remote areas, but farmers of the foothills of both Kumaon and Garhwal divisions of the hill State are increasingly taking to the cultivation of flowers in recent years.
More so, some of the areas of Nainital district like Padampuri, Chafi are significantly adding to the Uttarakhand’s floriculture sector. Since the floriculture sector is one of the fastest growing sectors assuring huge returns, farmers of the said areas have taken to the floriculture taking a departure from the traditional farming here of late.
More so, certain scientific methods like poly-houses which are responsible to provide controlled climatic conditions have only added to the growth of the floriculture sector in the State. However, the experts have also advised the ploy-houses owners to be alert against various kinds of the fungicide and bacterial diseases which may damage the flowers even in rather protected and controlled climatic conditions of the poly-houses.