22-12-2012, 06:46 PM
SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT OF CUT-FLOWERS IN INDIAN MARKET
SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT.docx (Size: 51.42 KB / Downloads: 99)
INTRODUCTION
Floriculture is the art and knowledge of growing flowers to perfection. Being a branch of horticulture, it deals with the cultivation of flowers and ornamental crops from the time of planting to the time of harvesting. It also includes production of planting materials through seeds, cuttings, budding, grafting and marketing of flowers and flower produce.
In Meghalaya flower lovers originally practiced floriculture as a hobby. Today, the growing demand has lead to flowers also being grown for commercial reasons. Meghalaya is known for a variety of rich flora and species of orchids that grow wild. The government has come out with a scheme to provide thegrowers with disease free planting material, organic/inorganic fertilizers, plant protection chemicals, garden tools and implements for a minimum area of 2000square meters along with a package of practices for commercial production. A few of the recommended ornamental crops are orchids, chrysanthemums, gerberras, carnations, liliums, strelitzia reginae, gladiolus, asters, marigolds, statice, gomphrenas, helichyrsums, zinnias, roses and different kind of house plants.
In Tamil Nadu, flowers such as rose, malligai, chrysanthemum, marigold, jathimalli, marikolundu and carnations are grown. Edward Rose and Andhra RedRose are two varieties of roses grown in the plains of the State. They need well-drained sandy loam soil.
Consumption of flowers in the southern States is much higher than in thenorthern States. Flowers are used by florists, flower rentals, perfume industries and as garlands. Centers where modern flowers are in demand are big cities like Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Delhi, Chandigarh, Lucknow and Calcutta.
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
Keeping the objective of the research in to consideration, the literature has been reviewed for marketing channel and resource use efficiency aspects of flowers.
Raghava (1996) reported that total area under flower corps on India was estimated to be around 34000 hectares, which included 24000 under traditional flowers and 10000 hectares under modern flowers. The returns from floriculture products were estimated then to be
`
205 crores, which includes
`
100 crores from modern flowers. Balasubramanayam (1997) summarized information about the technical and economical aspects of cut flowers. He laid stress on the availability of cold chain from production point to auction center for effective and efficient marketing. According to his estimates a farmer can get more than “75 lakhs per hectare in the domestic market. Net profit per hectare has been worked out to be “40 lakhs, in the 2nd year, “28 lakhs in the 3rd year and “40 lakhs in the 4th
year.
Gill and Aullakh (1993) reported that cut flowers production can be programmed for exports from the country. He pointed out that according to theagro-climate of Mercora in Karnataka, Pune, Nasik and Maharashtra, part of Himachal Pradesh are best suited for the cultivation of most of popular kinds of cut flowers.
Kaul and Dadlani (1995) reported that the total area under floriculture inHimachal Pradesh during 1993-94 was estimated at about 50 hectares.Important flower crops being presently grown in Himachal Pradesh areGladiolus, Marigold, Carnation, Chrysanthemum, Lilium, Rose and other Bulbous crops. Now withstanding the potential (agro-climate, unexploitedmarket, tourism, agricultures etc.) Existing in the state, some inherit problemslike non-availability of quality planting material high incentives of theenterprise requirement of higher level of technology for commercialfloriculture, absence of adequate research, development and training,infrastructure etc. have been instrumental for the slow pace of development of this important field in the state.
Oberoi (1997) stated that domestic market for floriculture in India should begiven due emphasis on the commission agents or wholesalers, a commission of 10-15% is charged. The study found that the domestic flower has seen a steadygrowth of almost 35% per annum as compared to the world flower marketgrowth of 12%. It is predicted that by the year 2000,India will be amongst the top 5 flowers exporters in the world. For achievingthe same, irregularities in the marketing and production should be removed.Regulated auction house should be setup, loans or special schemes for thedomestic growers should be drafted, producers should have an access toappropriate chemicals, etc. to combat various diseases and pests. Back up in theform of crop insurance will go a long way in instilling confidence in thegrowers to invest in this trade.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
SAMPLING DESIGN
This study deals with the economics of production and marketing of commercial flowers grown in Solan district of Himachal Pradesh. Solan districtwas selected purposively because more than 45% of the total area under carnation and 30% area under Gladioli fall under the district. Multi stagerandom sampling technique was adopted in order to select the respondents. Inthe first stage, a list of flowers growing pockets of the district was producedfrom the office of the Joint Director Horticulture, Solan.
In the second stage, a list of flower growers was obtained from the office of thedepartment of the Joint Director of Horticulture Solan, from each selected pockets. Finally, the ultimate sample of 30 (15 of each flower) flower growerswas drawn by adopting simple random sampling procedure.
To study the Marketing management aspect the Delhi market was selected purposively to study the supply chain aspects of the selected flowers. During thecourse of navigation it was found that, the wholesale and retail market structurein Delhi, 5 wholesalers/commission agents and 10 retailers were selectedrandomly for detailed study.
DATA COLLECTION
Both primary and secondary data were used for this study. The reference periodof the study was 2009-2010 the primary data were collected on the welldesigned and pre-tested schedules through personal interview method from theselected farm household in the producing areas and wholesalers/commissionagents and retailers in local Chandigarh market, detailed information on the costof cultivation of Marigold, Carnation and Gladioli, their yield rates and prices,marketing function, channels, costs and problems faced by farmers wereobtained from wholesalers and retailers respectively, from Chandigarh market.The second information was collected from various reports and publications of India and Director of Horticulture Shimla.