Himachal Pradesh first flower mandi comes up at Parwanoo

Ambika Sharma

Tribune News Service

Solan, January 4

The state’s first flower mandi has been set up at the Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) marketing yard, Parwanoo, to facilitate the growers from Solan, Sirmaur, Shimla and Mandi districts.

To open tomorrow

• The mandi is located on the Kalka-Shimla expressway at Parwanoo.
• It will be inaugurated on January 6 and will pave way for sale of flowers from Himachal first time
• The agro-climatic conditions offer apt opportunities for the development of floriculture to serve the internal off-season market
• The potential for exports is yet to be tapped

Ten shops, an auction platform, a parking lot for 100 vehicles and civic amenities have been created at a cost of Rs 2.5 crore. Spread across five bigha, the mandi is ideally located on the Kalka-Shimla expressway at Parwanoo.

Sanjeev Kashyap, chairman, APMC, Solan, said, “In a bid to facilitate the floriculturists of the state, a meeting headed by the Chief Minister was held with the floriculturists of the state as well as those engaged in its sale at Gazipur flower mandi in Delhi to chalk out its nitty-gritty earlier this year. It has taken final shape now and set up in the marketing yard of the APMC, Parwanoo, where adequate space is available.”

It will be inaugurated on January 6 and will pave way for sale of flowers from Himachal for the first time.

The growers have been selling their produce at Ghazipur mandi in Delhi as well as in other markets in North India which is channeled through wholesalers and slew of retailers.

The agro-climatic conditions offer apt opportunities for the development of floriculture to serve the internal off season market. The potential for exports, however, is yet to be tapped.

Floriculture products like cut flowers, bulbs, seeds, live plants, etc. can be produced as cash crops. Although flowers from different agro climatic zones of the state can be made available all through the year for domestic market, export quality flower produce can be ensured only by cultivation under controlled environment conditions of greenhouses.

Growers, however, say that, “The opening of the floral market is a welcome step but it remains to be seen how the sale would be transacted as it could add another step to the already multi-layered system.”

“If the entire sale of flowers, especially carnations, is done through this mandi it could help create monopoly of the state’s produce and help fetch better returns,” observed Kuldeep, a grower from Mahog in Chail which is the hub of floriculture. 

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