Gurvinder Singh Sodhi is a flowers grower from district Fatehgarh in Punjab. His video was released on FTB section of our Krishi Jagran Facebook pages. He started with thanking Krishi Jagran for providing him a platform to express his views.
Sodhi completed his education in 1997 in Botany and returned to farming helping his father with his work. He has experimented with a number of farming businesses including poultry since then. In 2008, he was introduced to horticulture business by Horticulture department of Punjab Government. The flowers that they grow are used in decorations, in weddings, wedding cars, in gurudwaras, temples. He has continued with horticulture since.
Getting the right seeds for your flowering plants is very important. Although growing flowers (horticulture) was recommended to me and I wanted to try my hand at this business, but I did not have the technical knowledge about this field. Horticulture department provided free training which has proved very useful and beneficial to me. It took him some time before finding the right seller for his seeds, which he wanted to be of highest quality.
There are very few mandis for flowers in Punjab so he had to look for buyers for his flowers. The main market for flowers is in Ludhiana in Punjab. So, he took his flowers to Ludhiana for sale. He made double, triple profit from this sale, due to low investment cost and high sale prices. He felt encouraged and started growing more varieties of flowers. He started farming flowers on 1.5 acres, then farmed on 5 acres and now farms on 20 acres.
Seeds are very important in growing flowers. He always looks for seeds which will adapt and grow well in Punjab climate. There are local and international companies offering contracts to farmers, which will allow you to sell your flowers in local and international markets. These companies have their own seed banks from which seeds are provided at fixed rates. There is big demand out there for flowers and good money to be made in exporting flowers. Our Punjab flowers are popular in Delhi, Haryana, Lucknow, Bangalore and Himachal.
Growing flowers requires big investments especially in terms of labour costs. If you are not able get labour at time and your are not able to harvest your flowers, these can go to waste causing big losses. Though investment in flower seeds is expensive but once you grow your flowers, you can collect your seeds from them. I share my knowledge and experience with my local flower grower friends and they do it vice versa, thus we help and educate each other.
In summer season there is low production of flowers and higher production in rainy seasons but the costs even out as our prices change according to the demands. Different varieties are sold at different rates. Punjab flower growers have the option of selling their flowers in Ludhiana locally, nationally in Delhi, Bangalore, other metro cities where transportation takes place through trains and internationally via contract farming.
Farmers here know how to grow almost everything but they need to learn marketing techniques for their products. You can start small and as you make more money you can increase the size of your operations. Some flowers like marigold grow all through the year while others are seasonal varieties. In winters they grow 80-100 quintals of flowers and in summers they grow 30-40 quintals. Investment in polyhouses can be beneficial as you can grow any flowers all year round.