Lok Sabha Question No. 243 (STARRED), answered on 2018-03-13
Subject: Development of Floriculture
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: Shrirang Appa Barne, PRITAM GOPINATH MUNDE

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

## DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, COOPERATION & FARMERS WELFARE

## LOK  SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 243

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 13 TH  MARCH, 2018

## DEVELOPMENT OF FLORICULTURE

- *243.    SHRI SHRIRANG APPA BARNE: DR. PRITAM GOPINATH MUNDE:

Will  the  Minister  of  AGRICULTURE  AND  FARMERS  WELFARE कृ ष एवं कसान कयाण ½ãâ¨ããè be pleased to state:

- (a) whether in the scenario of climate change, floriculture is a potential sector which may help rejuvenate the rural economy in most of the States;
- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether the Government has given logistic support to the farmers for development  of  floriculture  to  minimise  the  effects  of  climate  change,  use  of  greenhouse technology and practice of hi-tech horticulture to improve the rural economy of the country; and
- (d) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

कृ ष एवं कसान कयाण ½ãâ¨ããè (SHRI RADHA MOHAN SINGH) (a) to (d): A statement is laid on the Table of the House.

## STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (d)  OF  LOK  SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 243   DUE FOR REPLY ON 13 TH  MARCH, 2018.

(a): Yes,  floriculture  has  an  immense  potential  for  development  in  spite  of  climatic changes. Adoption of improved floriculture practices under protected conditions would help to rejuvenate rural economy in most of the States.

(b): Floriculture is an important component of Horticulture sector in rejuvenating rural economy  of  the  country.  Adoption  of  protected  cultivation  practices  help  farmers  to modify  the  time  of  planting,  cultural  practices  and  other  calendar  of  operations  to mitigate the adverse effect of climate change.

The  implication  of  climate  change  is  more  pronounced  in  terms  of  elevated temperature,  increased  carbon  dioxide  concentration  and  extreme  weather  events. Elevated carbon dioxide improves the performance positively by the enhanced rates of photosynthesis and biomass production in floriculture crops like rose, lilium, carnation, chrysanthemum, anthurium, gerbera, alstroemeria, etc. under protected conditions. As the climate is already controlled under protected cultivation the effect of climate change would not be pronounced. However flower crops grown under open field conditions to some  extent  get  affected  due  to  climate  change  leading  to  poor  flowering,  improper floral development, colour reduction and short blooming period.  At the same time, there are  ornamental  crops  like  tuberose,  marigold,  China  aster  which  are  not  severely affected by marginal increase in temperature.

Floriculture,  as  an  intensive  farming  under  protected  conditions,  is  often  not affected  by  the  outside  temperatures.  With  increasing  climatic  vagaries,  flower  crops grown under protected conditions prove to be one of the safest cultivations to overcome the  climate  change  effects.  Therefore,  the  floriculture  sector  has  the  potential  for  the improvement of rural economy and  help rejuvenate rural economy in most of the states.

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Further,  awareness  and  educational  programme  for  growers,  resource  conservation, and modification of present cultural practices and greater use of green-house technology are some of the solutions to minimize the adverse effect of climate change.

(c): Yes,  Government  has  extended  support  to  the  farmers  for  the  development  of floriculture including logistic support, use of green-house technology and to practice hitech floriculture to improve the rural economy.

(d): Government's support is extended through Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH), National Horticuture Board (NHB), Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY),  National  Mission  for  Sustainable  Agriculture  (NMSA),  Pradhan  Mantri  Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY) etc. The activities include area expansion, creation of water resources,  protected  cultivation  (green  house  structure,  shade  net  house,  plastic tunnels, anti hail nets, plastic mulching etc.), promotion of Integrated Nutrient Management  (INM)  /  Integrated  Pest  Management  (IPM),  mechanization,  microirrigation,  human  resource  development  activities.  Government  also  supports  to  build pre cooling units, cold storage, technology induction and modernisation of cold-chain, and purchase of refrigerated transport vehicle. The export activities of floriculture crops get promoted through Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA).

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