How this Odisha farmer clocks Rs50 lakh annual turnover from flower farming

In 2003, when Dilip Pradhan plucked 50 roses from his father’s small garden and sold them for Rs150 (at Rs 3 each), little did he know that one day he would earn lakhs of rupees from floriculture.

His father Gokulanana Pradhan, the then headmaster of ME School in Pukutunga village of Angul district, Odisha, scolded him heavily for selling the flowers secretly. While the sale of roses made Dilip realise the commercial value of flowers, he vowed never to set up any venture without his parents’ consent. 

Today, Dilip clocks Rs50 lakh annually from the sale of marigolds, roses and rajanigandha (tuberose) grown over 10 acres in Angul. 

Encouraged by the success of his business, Dilip now plans to start the cultivation of gerbera and orchids over another acre with assistance from the Horticulture Department, Angul. 

Benefitting from government schemes 

“Angul district is home to seven very successful floriculturists including Dilip. If he applies, he can get a 50 percent subsidy to grow gerberas and orchids under the Mukhyamantri Krishi Udyog Yojana (MKUY) of the state,” says Ambar Lugun, Deputy Director (Horticulture), Angul. 

Dilip has also benefitted from the Central Government's Floriculture Mission, which aims to increase farmers' income and develop floriculture entrepreneurship by sharing technological expertise and newer varieties of crops with farmers. 

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A college dropout and father of two school-going sons, Dilip earlier ran a pesticide shop in his village that brought a monthly profit of Rs6000. But his love for flowers prompted him to start the cultivation of marigolds and roses in 2005.

“Though I wanted to start floriculture long back, I dilly-dallied for fear of possible failure. Finally, I took the risk and began growing flowers in 2005 when my father was about to retire in 2006,” says Dilip. 

“I handed over the pesticide shop to my elder brother Manoj Pradhan to fully focus on floriculture,” he adds.

Dilip bought 100 rose saplings of the ‘Shrewsbury’ variety at Rs9 each and planted them in nearly three gunthas (0.074 acre) in 2011. He also got 2000 marigold saplings of Kolkata Local variety at Rs2 each from Kolkata and started growing in about 0.048 acres.

“The horticulture department provided me with 400 rose and 6,000 marigold nursery plants for free in 2011,” he says.

He began selling rose at Rs4 a piece, and marigolds at Rs6 per kg to retail buyers through his outlet Maa Puspa Bhandar in Angul district headquarters, about 20 km from his village.     

Also Read: How this 32-year-old college dropout set up a Rs 4-crore marigold nursery business

“The annual turnover of the business was about Rs 22,000 then. I took help from my brother but did not employ anyone at that time,” Dilip says. 

Expansion and sales

He gradually expanded the area under cultivation by half an acre to two acres as sales increased. He now has over 35,000 marigold plants and more than 4,000 rose plants in 10 acres. The area includes two acres taken on lease for which he pays Rs5000 per acre annually. 

In 2015 he started growing indigenous rajanigandha or tuberose in half an acre by procuring two quintals of its bulbs from Kolkata at Rs80 per kg.

 “The Lucknow-based Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (CIMAP) also gave for free rose and marigold saplings in phases between 2022 and 2024,” Dilip says.

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“We provided one lakh marigold nursery plants of ‘Sweta’, ‘Pusa’ and ‘Narangi’ varieties along with one kg of seeds, 3,000 rose saplings of ‘Shrewsbury’, ‘Ranisahiba’ and ‘Noorjahan’ and 500 kg of marigold of ‘Kolkata Local’ variety under Floriculture Mission of the Central Government,” says CIMAP’s senior principal scientist Dr Prasanta Kumar Rout.

Dilip harvests around 1500 roses, over a quintal marigold and 1.05 quintals of tuberose daily. 

While he sells loose marigolds at Rs90 per kg, a marigold garland is priced at Rs15 for wholesalers and Rs20 for retail buyers. Rose is priced between Rs7 and Rs10 and he charges Rs200 per kg for tuberose.

 “Sales go up over 60 percent during marriage and religious occasions, and come down drastically during off seasons,” Dilip says. 

He has been growing Kamini, Victoria, Bottlegrass and Son of India in one acre since 2015 as their stalks are used along with flowers for decorative purposes. “I sell Kamini leaves at Rs50 per kg and stalks of each of other varieties at Rs3 to Rs4 each,” says Dilip.

Now Dilip has employed three people to look after his flower outlet. On the farm, he has employed three couples and provides them with food, medical expenses, accommodation and salary. Apart from this, he hires daily labourers as required. As he expands to grow more varieties, he will be able to provide employment to more people.

(Niroj Ranjan Misra a Cuttack-based freelance writer. He writes on rural and tribal life, social issues, art and culture, and sports)

Also Read: Five farmers earning bumper profits from flower farming

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