Utilize opportunities for smart entrepreneurship in Floriculture

Nauni: The 33rd Annual Group Meeting of the All India Coordinated Research Project (AICRP) on Floriculture commenced today at Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry (UHF), Nauni, with a strong call to harness the vast opportunities emerging in India's floriculture sector through innovation, collaboration and entrepreneurship. The three-day event is being jointly organized by the ICAR-Directorate of Floricultural Research (DFR), Pune in collaboration with the AICRP on Floriculture, UHF Department of Floriculture and Landscape Architecture. The meeting has brought together around 90 floriculture experts, including scientists from 22 AICRP centres, university faculty and professionals.

Inaugurating the session, Chief Guest Prof. Rajeshwar Singh Chandel, UHF Vice Chancellor, emphasized the cultural and economic significance of floriculture. He described it as a ‘smart livelihood’ opportunity, particularly for India’s youth and stressed the need for research institutions to translate their work from ‘lab to land and land to scalable businesses’. He urged the development of short-term, hands-on courses to equip students and enthusiasts with practical floriculture skills and also ramp up demand and growth in the sector. Prof. Chandel also highlighted climate change as a critical challenge facing the sector and advocated for localized, easily implementable solutions to mitigate its impact.

Calling floriculture a ‘sunshine sector’, Dr. Sudhakar Pandey, Assistant Director General (Flowers, Vegetables, Spices, and Medicinal Plants), ICAR, noted that the sector is growing at an annual rate of 10 percent, double the growth rate of agriculture. He revealed that India's annual floriculture exports exceed ₹700 crore, with dry flowers accounting for approximately 70% of that value. He emphasized the government's recognition of floriculture as a 100% export-oriented industry. Dr. Pandey called for enhanced efforts in domestic flower breeding to meet demand for newer varieties and identified entrepreneurship opportunities in nursery production, cut flowers and value-added floral products. He encouraged greater collaboration between scientists and the private sector to tackle evolving challenges such as new pests, climate change, and shifting consumer preferences.

Dr. Sanjeev Chauhan, UHF Director of Research, commended Himachal Pradesh’s advancements in floriculture and expressed optimism that the North Eastern states would also leverage their favourable climates to boost floriculture production. He also shared updates on UHF’s research on orchids and other novel flower varieties. Earlier, Dr. K.V. Prasad, Director of DFR Pune and National Coordinator of AICRP on Floriculture, welcomed the participants and presented the Coordinators' Report. He shared success stories from the 22 AICRP centres and highlighted innovative technologies developed for adoption across the country.

Experts at the event also advocated for exploring underutilized areas of floriculture, such as essential oil extraction, natural dyes and edible flowers. They emphasized reducing the use of artificial and plastic flowers to promote sustainable domestic consumption.

The inaugural session also saw the release of several publications and value-added products developed by participating centres. Eminent floriculturists including Dr NK Dalani, Dr Ramesh Kumar, Dr OP Sehgal, Dr YC Gupta, and Dr Rajesh Bhalla were honoured for their significant contributions to the field. Over the next two days, scientific sessions will feature presentations from various AICRP centres and focus on strategies for the coming year. Key dignitaries including Dr. Brajesh Singh, Director, CPRI Shimla; Dr. V.P. Sharma, Director, DMR Chambaghat; Dr. S.R. Dhiman, Head of Floriculture and Landscape Architecture at UHF; as well as statutory officers and faculty members from across departments participated in the programme.