Lily cultivation in Greenhouses: Nilgiris, TN South India скачать в хорошем качестве

Lily cultivation in Greenhouses: Nilgiris, TN South India

Floriculture industry in India has 70% traditional / loose flowers (meant for social / religious purposes). The balance 30% is cut flowers (meant for bouquets / floral arrangements by florists / decorators). Of this 30%, leaving out filler flowers (Solidago, Asters, Statice / Limonium, Daisies etc) and medium value flowers (Rose, Carnation, Gerbera etc), three flowers stand out in India as "High Value Flowers" viz., Anthurium, Orchid and Lily. Among these three, former two are perennials (well, almost; lasting for over 5-6 years, without any replanting needs) and the latter, lily is definitely the most expensive crop, based on many parameters: Lily is primarily a capital intensive crop both on initial investment on infrastructure (greenhouses, cold store etc) and on recurring cost (mainly planting material) and lily has very specific climatic requirements (like Tea growing areas, with 1500+ M altitude), with a wide variation in greenhouse designs for different lily growing regions. In India, while growers in Maharashtra (Pune, Nashik, Sangli, Kolhapur etc) and others in the plains (Lucknow, Kolkata etc) can grow lilies in winter, growers in North / North East / North West can grow lilies in summer, uniquely in South India, Nilgiris Region (Kotagiri, Coonoor and Ooty) can grow lilies throughout the year. Seasonal adjustments require attention in spacing, watering, shading, frost and rain protection, along with varying planting depth for summer and winter. Precautionary measures against diseases (Wilts and Botrytis), insects (worms that target both stems and buds & sucking pests, which attack buds), along with rotation of chemicals to prevent development of resistance, are required. Importing planting material (bulbs) from Holland, for planting three times an year, cold stores to keep the bulb stock (in minus 1.5 Deg C and dark conditions), clean cultivation practices, both in greenhouse and packing area, along with good planning capabilities (to sell what is so produced and to produce what sells, when-where-how much) and a sound financial backing make lilium a very unique (and hence, a high risk) crop. This ensemble covers all aspects of cultivation of lily in greenhouses through cold store-greenhouse-packing area. The date of field visits is 18th March 2021.The background score is attributed with thanks to BenSound.com