3 June:Contrary to the general perception of Gladiolus being a winter flower, the decorative flower is blooming in summer in Orissa’s Ganjam district.
Thanks to the Flower Growers’ Association of Orissa State (FGAOS), the flower was being grown on a pilot basis in two villages of the district.
The farmers, who had undertaken the cultivation on an experimental basis, were not only meeting local demands, but supplying the flowers to cities, including Bangalore, Hyderabad, New Delhi and Pune.
Cultivation of Gladiolus was undertaken in about 4.5 acres of land at Biruligada and Kantapada villages near Rambha by six farmers on an experimental basis.
"Initially, we were quite apprehensive about its success but now we are extremely happy as we have succeeded to get good yield of the flower in the odd summer months", B P Singhdeo, a farmer of Biruligada, said.
Singhdeo cultivated the flower taking the bulbs (saplings) and technical inputs from FGAOS.
"The flowers which started blooming from the second week of March, will continue for some more time now."
FGAOS president Nirmal Chandra Nayak said besides bulbs and technical advice to the farmers, the association was arranging marketing of their products.
After its production, the flowers are supplied to floriculturists in different cities in consultation with a cooperative society at Satara in Maharashtra, he said.
The farmers, who undertook the experiment of growing the attractive flower, had been provided with imported quality saplings procured from a reputed organisation in New Delhi, FGAOS functionaries said.
The growers were also imparted technical support for their experiment by the Central Horticulture Experimental station at Bhubaneswar, an organisation of Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR), they said.
The aim of the FGAOS was basically to promote the scheme sponsored by the National Horticulture Board (NHB) creating awareness among the farmers to cultivate the flower in about 100 acres in Ganjam, Puri, Balangir, Cuttack, Kandhamal and Koraput districts, Nayak said.