Baldev Raj Thukral of Pallavika nursery released his video on FTB. He completed his degree from Asia's first university G.B. Pant Agriculture University, based in Pantnagar. He completed his M.Sc. Agriculture (Horticulture) in 1992.
After lot of thinking he decided to start his own business instead of working for someone. He started this business in association with his elder brother Krishan Thukral who also has a degree from Pant Agriculture University in B.Sc. Agriculture, and hence Pallavika Nursery was established in 1992. They started their business over half an acre of land owned by their father in the Maharajpur village. They started on a small scale due to lack of funds.
At that time poplar was something most farmers were interested in, therefore they started growing poplar plants in their nursery along with horticulture plants. Initially they focused mostly on poplar plants. Slowly they grew to 70 acres nursery of Poplar plants. The disadvantage with poplar plants is that they produce quite well for first 10 years but their production sees downfall in following years. So we like all farmers started to look at alternatives.
The alternative that Thukral brothers agreed upon was L49 variety of guava. Baldev continued that a number of farmers in the Terai region, where their nursery is based, took up farming guavas and made lots of money. The L49 varieties of guava are available even in the winter season of November, December and January. People where he lives believe that guava are better than even apples in terms of taste and for good health. So, they too started farming guava on a grand scale.
He said that they have implemented every concept they have learnt in their horticulture course and they provide fruit growing plants, flower growing plants, kitchen gardening with hybrid vegetable, home decoration plants, lawn grass. They cover every section of horticulture department and their concept is horticulture under one roof i.e. providing everything in one place what a horticulturist could dream of.
They provide manure for plants, vermicompost, flower pots (gamla) - metal, ceramic, plastic, cement and mud pots. They are registered with the Uttarakhand government and National Horticulture Board has accredited them. They strictly follow the guidelines given by the Board on how to grow the plants. They adhere honestly to the protocol given to them by the Board. Thus their plants are healthy, give good productivity and are "true to the type", which means you will get from us exactly what you order. If you order a particular variety of mangoes, you will be given the best species of that variety of mangoes and the best in stock.
If our client farmers are able to grow productive plants and that too of good quality, our brand will get publicity even through "word of mouth". We hope to raise the living standard of our customers with the services that we provide.
He said it has been 28 to 29 years since 1992 when they established the nursery. We have a sales centre cum office at Nainital Road, Rudrapur and another at Nainital-Delhi Highway, Rudrapur. Their main nursery is based in village Maharajpur over 30 acres where the horticulture plants are grown organically. Every technology available in the world for horticulture is at hand in this nursery to work with, so as to grow high quality products that satisfy our customers.
He said it is believed that if a particular plant is not available in Pallikal nursery it will not be available anywhere in Uttarakhand. He wants to work towards maintaining this faith in his customers. He wants to serve high quality products to the farmers and his customers till the end of his life. We try to keep the rates of our products reasonable enough so that we the owners and the workers have enough earnings.
The fruits they provide include mango, guava, lychee, chiku, amla, jackfruit, java plum, custard apple and avocado. In ornamental all shrubs are available. They even provide medium and large trees. If you want a 4 feet plant or a 8 feet plant, we will be able to provide everything. We will be able to provide according to your requirements and your budget. He even sells plants with pots and these include all varieties of plants available in our region. They provide all seasonal plants, the summer varieties and the winter varieties. Please click here to see the FTB video yourself.