Step 1 is to Identify the Floriculture Potential of the Region
Preface
Our previous article was on the state-of-affair with respect to the Indian floriculture Industry, and India’s contribution to the global flower demand. We also talked about our intent to give solutions for solving the current burning issues and prepare a roadmap for transforming the floriculture industry to make it modern and transformative. This article is the first step in that direction.
The Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities & Threats (SWOT) Analysis
We have seen that there is a huge demand for locally grown traditional flowers in India. Be it private or public ceremonies, festivals, daily temple rituals and all other social activities, traditional flowers are a must and used in a big way. Mysuru region supplies most of these flower varieties to meet the domestic demand.
Estimation of Demand
In fact, the Krishna Raja (KR) market in Bengaluru, where the bulk of flowers are brought to be sold to retailers spread across the city and the neighboring towns, sees an estimated yearly revenue turnover of OVER INR 10,000 Crores. From there flowers get transported to Chennai, Hyderabad, Bombay, Mysuru, Dharwad, Tirupathi etc.
Also, the bulk buyers from Mysuru, Hassan, Tumkur, Chitradurga, Mandya, and other cities buy directly from the growers to get at low prices. They too sell to small traders and end-consumers across these cities and the neighbouring towns.
To take any step towards the modernization of the floriculture industry and make it robust, one should properly understand the “demand and supply” situation first.
Department of Horticulture – Karnataka Government
The Horticulture Department of the Karnataka government can collaborate with the University of Agriculture (GKVK) team to do a survey of the KR Market and Russell Market in Bengaluru, which handle yearly flower trades to the tune of thousands of crores. The study team should talk to various bulk traders to know the following
- Variety of flowers bought
- Quantity of flowers bought under each variety
- Per day sales
- The rate at which the flowers are bought
- The variety of flowers comes from towns outside of Karnataka
The traders may not cooperate with the study team, as they may feel threatened to reveal the financial details. This is because around 90% of the trade happens through hard cash, which is unaccounted money. However, the government should do whatever is required to somehow make them give the above details. They can do similar studies at Mysuru Devaraja Market and the markets of the other important cities of the Mysuru region.
Also Read: Articles from Karnataka Section
Estimation of supply
It is important to understand what different types of flowers are grown in the Mysuru region. To meet the burgeoning demand, what kind of flowers come from the other regions of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu? In what quantity each variety of flowers are grown? The study team can contact the flower growers’ association and get the following information
- Varieties of flowers grown
- The quantity of each type of flowers grown in the region
- The average selling cost of each variety of flowers.
By knowing the overall demand for flowers at each of the above markets, it is important to study those varieties that are brought from neighboring states to sell here. The question to be asked is, “Can they be locally grown in the region?” If yes, what needs to be done to grow them? If not, why can’t we grow locally in the region?
Strengths
Having known the demand and supply situation firsthand, it is important to see if there is a possibility of extending the range to include other varieties of flowers that are generally not grown OR grown in limited quantities in the region. Listing out the strengths of the region to grow a wide variety of flowers will help a lot.
Weakness
No study is complete without the assessment of one’s weaknesses. That is, there is a need to clearly figure out why a wide variety of flowers, which have high domestic and overseas demands, are unable to grow in the region. So, a detailed study is required to understand the weakness.
Opportunity
The previous article talks about how floriculture can bring big fortunes if the opportunities are rightly tapped. A detailed analysis is required to understand and list out possible opportunities. The report should quantitatively specify the opportunities with numbers to justify the effort in overhauling the floriculture industry.
Threats
What happens if nothing is done to change the status quo of the floriculture industry? The majority of the farming community will remain in PERPETUAL POVERTY. With NO HOPES of earning a living in rural areas, the youth from the farming community migrate en-masse to the metro cities like Bengaluru – already congested to the brim, creating all sorts of problems. Some may get into evil activities to earn money quickly creating LAW-AND-ORDER problems.
Also Read: Articles from Industries Section
Why should the government take floriculture very seriously?
For the sake of Job Creation
The overhauling and modernization of the floriculture industry should be the top priority of any government, as it will throw open tremendous opportunities for all the stakeholders to legally earn big money. Also, this can create “LAKHS OF NEW JOBS” in the farm sectors giving the youth a chance to RESPECTFULLY earn livelihood in their hometowns. The rural economy will get a BOOSTER SHOT due to a spurt in the floriculture business. This will put an end to the mass migration of people from rural areas into big cities.
For Increased tax collection
Currently, the floriculture industry, especially those that deal with traditional flowers, is unorganized to the core, as business happens in a very rudimentary fashion. There is hardly any modern infrastructure worth mentioning with respect to post-harvest storage, bulk transportation, trading, payment (over 90% of business payment happens through cash), and last-mile delivery. Because of cash payment at every stage of the trade, “UNDER-INVOICING” is rampant. Due to this, the government LOSES BIG-TIME in tax collection.
So, the only solution to this problem is to turn floriculture into an Organized industry, where financial transactions happen digitally.
To earn the goodwill of the farmers
When the farming community is benefiting out of the modern floriculture industry, they will at large support the government that made it happen. That means in the election, the party that represents the government will have a chance to retain the power.
Advantages of making the floriculture industry organized
No industry can thrive in chaos, that is what the trade will turn into if the industry remains unorganized for long. There are benefits in turning it into an organized one. The below points list them
Growers’ hard work is profusely rewarded
In India, farmers are always at the receiving end mostly when things go bad. Because of the involvement of various middlemen (brokers) to whom the growers were made to sell their produce due to the APMC act, they get pittance as returns for their hard work from brokers. There is no end to the distress the growers have to face in life. However, modernization of the floriculture industry through technology and turning it into an organized one with the induction of professionalism will eventually turn tides towards better for growers. The technology can bring growers directly face-to-face with buyers, thus getting the market rate for their produce.
Consumers can get flowers at much-reduced rates
The modern floriculture industry works in a sophisticated manner where costs never get padded up unnecessarily due to brokers’ commissions and inefficiencies in the chain. So, the cost of the produce will only depend on the demand and supply equation, and nothing else.
Since there are NO “avoidable losses” in the process, so consumers get the produce at much-reduced rates.
Modern Floriculture Industry: Conclusion
Looking at the benefits a modern floriculture industry offers, there is no doubt that it builds a win-win situation for all the stakeholders, thus eliminating wastage through pilferage.
The next article will talk about the next step towards achieving excellence in the floriculture Industry.
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