Gujarat: When a hundred flowers bloom

The 42-year-old, a Bachelor of Arts and Education from Surat’s Veer Narmad South Gujarat University, turned to anthurium cultivation on the advice of Darshan Patel, a college mate and fellow adivasi belonging to Malwada village in Chikhali taluka of Navsari district.

“He was already into orchid farming. It was he who suggested that I try out anthurium and even gave me the name of a Bangalore-based tissue culture plants supplier. I surfed the net to find out more about the firm (Florance Flora) and got in touch with the people there. They, in turn, sent their agent here and he explained to me the details of how to go about with farming this flower. In the meantime, I did my own market research on anthurium through the Internet and also used social media to connect with growers in other states, especially in Andhra Pradesh and Kerala,” he tells The Indian Express.

Patel — the government-aided school he heads offers education up to Class 12 and is run by the Shri Dang Yuvak Seva Samiti, an NGO in the district headquarters of Ahwa — previously grew paddy on his one-acre farm. In early-2016, he sowed 40,000 young plants on the same field after investing about Rs 60 lakh. This amount included the costs of installing a greenhouse with a shade net (to protect against direct sunlight, birds and insects), overhead water sprinklers (to maintain an optimal relative humidity of 70-80% and temperature range of 15-30 degrees Celsius) and seedlings. These were first planted on coconut husks that he procured from Mumbai.

Last year, Patel sold some 48,000 flowers to parties in Mumbai and Ahmedabad.

The above heavy investments could be incurred only because of the subsidy Patel availed from the National Horticulture Board. “This subsidy is 50%, covering the cost of the greenhouse infrastructure as well as planting material. There is an additional 25% subsidy from the Gujarat government for ST category applicants,” informs Padaliya. Each sapling bears 5-6 flowering plants of below two-foot height. They start yielding flowers around two years after planting and continue producing them for 10 years.

Patel sells an average 5,000 anthuriums every month, mainly to merchants in Mumbai and Ahmedabad. Each cut flower fetches Rs 20 or so and they come in different shades. “I supply not only red, but even shades of pink, peach and violet. The flowers (they are actually spathes or curved leaves surrounding the real flowers, which are little bumps on the fleshy spadix) are mostly showpieces used in bouquets. The best thing is that they remain alive for three weeks when kept in vases filled with water,” notes this most unlikely hi-tech floriculturist from the most backward and predominantly adivasi district of Gujarat.

Last year, Patel sold some 48,000 flowers to parties in Mumbai and Ahmedabad. Dang district, incidentally, has no rail connectivity. Patel’s well-packed parcels of flowers from Bhadarpada are dispatched by road to the Bilimora Junction station that is nearly 85 km away in neighbouring Navsari district. The parcels are loaded there by his men in trains going to Mumbai and Ahmedabad.

“I have had the satisfaction of doing something different and much of it self-taught. I learnt about anthurium farming from the Internet and by establishing contacts with other growers and plant suppliers. Even the flower agents I met and worked out deals with was through my own initiative. All that I possessed before venturing into this business was my one-acre agricultural land,” he adds.

Patel hasn’t, however, given up his job as school principal.

“I go there in the morning and visit my greenhouse in the after-school hours, and also before going to bed. It’s not difficult when both are in the same village. Anthurium requires careful tending. During the summer, when temperatures shoot up, you have to ensure timely watering from the showers fixed at different points of the net house. One should also check the saplings and flowers regularly for any damage or disease infestation. Harvesting, too, must be done at the right time (when the spathe completely unfurls and the spadix is well developed),” he points out.

Patel, whose annual revenue from anthurium cultivation is roughly Rs 9 lakh, has currently engaged five labourers to take care of his entire floriculture operations. They have been personally trained by him and are being given daily wages of Rs 150, in addition to food and accommodation. His farm is also attracting visitors, from within Gujarat as well as Maharashtra. Whether the hundreds of anthurium blooms in the net house will inspire more such rural entrepreneurs, including from his community, remains to be seen.