How this MBA farmer clocks Rs 36 lakh per acre from gerbera farming

After completing his MBA in marketing from MIT, Pune, in 2009, Sachin Shelar joined a plant biotechnology company that produced disease-free plants for cultivation. Coming from a farmer's family, farming knowledge came naturally to Sachin. His job was to market tissue culture plants to farmers.

“However, during my interaction with farmers, they constantly asked me why you don’t use these plants in your farm first and then sell them to us?” Sachin tells 30Stades. 

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At that time, Sachin’s family was involved in the traditional farming of sugarcane, soybean, and turmeric in Mhasave village of Maharashtra’s Satara district. When he discussed protected farming in a polyhouse with high-quality saplings, his family refused to experiment. 

Polyhouse cultivation is gaining popularity in India as plants are protected from the vagaries of nature and pests. Farmers can harvest crops throughout the year by controlling temperature and other parameters.

Experimenting with polyhouse farming

“My family did not trust that I could profit from protected farming with market-bought saplings. In 2012, I leased a polyhouse, which was shut down by the previous owner due to losses,” he says.

Sachin planted seedless cucumbers on part of the 1500 sq mt polyhouse. The other part already had gerbera plants, which required pest control and care. “I revived the gerbera plants and grew seedless cucumber. The yields were good,” he says.

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From 2012 to 2014, Sachin earned well, and his family gained confidence. “They allowed me to start a polyhouse on one out of 10 acres of land,” he recollects.

Sachin started with cucumber since he had developed market linkages and knew the crop cycle well. “I made cucumber saplings from seed and planted them in May, as cucumber gets the best rates when the seasonal crop is about to end in the market. In three months, I earned Rs 8.5 lakh of profit,” the agripreneur says. 

However, Sachin says short-term crops in polyhouses are less profitable than long-term crops like gerbera, which give flowers for three to four years. 

Rising demand for exotic flowers

Moreover, there is a growing demand for exotic cut flowers like orchids, lilies, and gerbera (originally from Africa), making flower farming a profitable option for farmers looking to diversify. 

The Indian floriculture market was valued at Rs 26,200 crore in 2023 and is projected to reach Rs 71,400 crore by 2032, exhibiting a CAGR of 11.8 percent, as per market research firm Research and Markets. 

“So in July 2014, I planted 25,000 plants (purchased at Rs 38 per sapling) over one acre. It started flowering after three months,” says Sachin, who uses a combination of organic manure and fertilisers to keep floriculture costs low.

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The 25,000 gerbera plants yield about 12 lakh to 13 lakh flowers in a year. 

“At a wholesale rate of Rs 3 per flower, I get a turnover of Rs 35 lakh to Rs 36 lakh from an acre annually. Out of Rs 3, the cost is Rs 2.25 per flower, resulting in a per-acre profit of Rs 8 lakh to Rs 9 lakh annually,” Sachin says. 

With the success, Sachin expanded gerbera farming to three acres in 2018. “I send the flowers to Mumbai, Pune, Delhi, Mangaluru, Surat and Ahmedabad. But about 50 percent of my sales come from the local Satara market,” he says.

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Success strategies for flower farming

The biggest success strategy behind Sachin’s income is not just his polyhouse farming of gerbera, but also his full-stack production and marketing strategy. 

He grows gerbera over three acres (his biggest crop), and also grows other flowers and plants outside the polyhouse in the open field. They are used as filler materials in bouquets and for decoration. 

“On one acre, I cultivate Dutch rose (average cost of cultivation is Rs 3.5 per flower and market rate is Rs 5). I also grow tube rose (rajnigandha), gladiolus, and chrysanthemum, apart from other flowers, because florists want a variety of flowers,” he says.

Among the filler plants, he cultivates Gypsophila (Baby's Breath), Dusty Miller, Kamini leaves, golden daisy, delphinium and other plants that add colour and shine to decorations. “There is a good profit margin in these plants,” he says.

The other prong of his success strategy is creating a local marketing network. When he started, his orders from Satara were only 5 percent of the total revenues. 

“Today, about 50 percent of my income is from the Satara market, which gets me bulk orders for weddings and other functions,” Sachin says.

According to him, farmers must learn marketing. “Farmers have been cultivating crops for centuries. They lack effective marketing skills. If they learn to create a market for their produce, they will succeed. It is true of floriculture also,” he adds.

(Rashmi Pratap is a Mumbai- based journalist specialising in financial, business and socio-economic reporting) 

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