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Thriving gladiolus farm thrives life of a Punjab youth
Gladiolus is a good change crop for the farmers and soil in Punjab, the state otherwise known for its rich wheat and mustard cultivation. It was a jackpot for Mr. Gurvinder Singh Sohi, a youth from Nanowal village, Fatehgarh Sahib district, Punjab. He started gladiolus farming in the year 2008 on experimental basis only in two canals. The flowers blossom his heart and mind for floriculture and he consistently increased the acreage to 14 acres. Besides with precise coordination between production and sales he was able to get best profits from gladiolus farming. “The bulbs are sown in the month of August considering I get the harvest when the market price is at its boom. It helps in earning good profits,” he highlights.
Mr. Gurvinder Singh Sohi
Growing gladiolus commercially brought him immense success after trying different employment prospects like cracking engineering entrance, mushroom farming, sweet shop and horse breeding. Punjab horticulture department had imported gladiolus bulbs from Holland that were given to farmers on subsidy. “I bought 10 thousand bulbs at the cost of Rs. 1.50/bulb. It was best quality planting material as every bulb had approximately 10-12 cm diameter, ideal for flowering. It was the one time investment because once in three years new bulbs are produced,” he says. 5-6 colour varieties flowers are grown in the farm such as white, pink, yellow, red and orange.
The price is controlled by Delhi flower wholesale market. The prices are high from January-March due to Lodhi festival, valentine day and marriage season. “Keeping all the factors in consideration at my farm flowers are sold on an average price of Rs. 3-3.5/bud. I plan the production in August in order to get the harvest every alternate day during entire January-March period,” he highlights.
Gladilous bulbs are sown everyday in August in batches so that it can be harvested every alternate day from January-March. Speaking of land preparation he says, “First we do the marking of two lanes at a distance of 9 inch and then leave the space of 18 inch next to which another two lanes are made keeping the distance of 9 inch and so on. In each lane keeping the distance of 3 inch the bulbs are manually pushed down 2 inches deep in the soil and then we make the bed of 1 feet above it. In this way a canal is made after every two lanes that help in flood irrigation and cutting the buds.”
Once the season is over in last week of March, the bulbs are removed from the soil, cleaned and stored in the cold storage till next sowing in August. Each bulb has good flowering capacity of 7-8 years, post that the production drops. “In April after removing the bulbs, I grow green gram followed by Basmati rice which is then harvested in July end. In this way from same farmland I harvest three crops. It is the ideal crop rotation module that ensures the soil remains fertile and there is consistent earning,” he says.
Attaining good flower production and demand Mr. Gurvinder decided to sell the flowers to bulk buyers on his own without any middlemen hence RTS Flowers came into being in 2014. “I started selling the flowers directly to the florists in nearby cities like Chandigarh, Ludhiana and Patiala. To reach more buyers I also started the facebook page and Indiamart webpage. Slowly and gradually a good network was established and I started selling flowers directly,” he asserts. The buds are cut before it blossoms as florists demand high shelf life of at least 15 to 20 days.
Mr. Gurvinder crafted a name for himself as the seller of gladiolus flowers as well as planting material. Farmers from different regions started visiting his farm to learn more about the farming practices and on their return they purchased the bulbs from him. “I started producing the planting material from the Mother stock though bulb propagation. It is cost and time effective method of propagation. Bulb is also called as corm. Every year the plant grows a new corm right on top of the old one. I dig the corms up at the end of summer for storage. Each corm has number of baby corms, known as cormels or cormlets, attached to the bottom. These cormlets are removed and transplanted separately to develop the bulbs,” he elaborates. The bulbs produced by him gave excellent production hence more and more farmers started asking for the planting material. “The entire process of bulb production takes 3 years. Every year I produce 1.5 lakh bulbs and these are sold out completely yet the demand remains unfulfilled. I usually sell the bulbs to farmers residing in Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.” Bulbs are sold at Rs. 2-2.5/piece.
Along with gladiolus Mr. Gurvinder also grows marigold in another 2.5 acres twice in a year, January and July respectively. The saplings are sourced every year in July from Kolkata at Re 1/sapling. “It is called as ‘Laddoo Genda’. The petals are extremely close and the flower is quite big in size. After harvesting, for the next season in January I develop my own marigold saplings. The plant-plant distance maintained is 1.5 feet while row-row 3 feet,” he shares.
In time to come he wants to continue growing the same crops because it is less time, labour and capital intensive. “I would add on more acres of cultivation but would stick to gladiolus and marigold flower farming. Personally I am not in favor of rose and gerbera cultivation in poly house for its high capital investment, low shelf life and stagnant selling price,” he reveals.
Farming is profitable if farmers give their 100% in terms of production and selling believes young farmer Mr. Gurvinder. He concludes, “We need to think out of the box and take actions that help us earn better. I ensure all my farm produce is best in quality hence the customer base keeps growing strong. Thus irrespective of market fluctuations we will always sail through tough times because quality is supreme!!”
Contact details:
Sohi Gladiolus Farm
Mr. Gurvinder Singh Sohi
S/o Mr. Gurdeep Singh Sohi,
Village Nanowal Kalan via Kakrala, Kalan Tehsil, Khamano District, Fatehgarh Sahib, Punjab – 141801
Phone – 09915310703
Email: sohi07@yahoo.co.in
Web: https://www.facebook.com/R-T-S-Flowers/
Gladiolus is a good change crop for the farmers and soil in Punjab, the state otherwise known for its rich wheat and mustard cultivation. It was a jackpot for Mr. Gurvinder Singh Sohi, a youth from Nanowal village, Fatehgarh Sahib district, Punjab. He started gladiolus farming in the year 2008 on experimental basis only in two canals. The flowers blossom his heart and mind for floriculture and he consistently increased the acreage to 14 acres. Besides with precise coordination between production and sales he was able to get best profits from gladiolus farming. “The bulbs are sown in the month of August considering I get the harvest when the market price is at its boom. It helps in earning good profits,” he highlights.
Mr. Gurvinder Singh Sohi
Growing gladiolus commercially brought him immense success after trying different employment prospects like cracking engineering entrance, mushroom farming, sweet shop and horse breeding. Punjab horticulture department had imported gladiolus bulbs from Holland that were given to farmers on subsidy. “I bought 10 thousand bulbs at the cost of Rs. 1.50/bulb. It was best quality planting material as every bulb had approximately 10-12 cm diameter, ideal for flowering. It was the one time investment because once in three years new bulbs are produced,” he says. 5-6 colour varieties flowers are grown in the farm such as white, pink, yellow, red and orange.
The price is controlled by Delhi flower wholesale market. The prices are high from January-March due to Lodhi festival, valentine day and marriage season. “Keeping all the factors in consideration at my farm flowers are sold on an average price of Rs. 3-3.5/bud. I plan the production in August in order to get the harvest every alternate day during entire January-March period,” he highlights.
Gladilous bulbs are sown everyday in August in batches so that it can be harvested every alternate day from January-March. Speaking of land preparation he says, “First we do the marking of two lanes at a distance of 9 inch and then leave the space of 18 inch next to which another two lanes are made keeping the distance of 9 inch and so on. In each lane keeping the distance of 3 inch the bulbs are manually pushed down 2 inches deep in the soil and then we make the bed of 1 feet above it. In this way a canal is made after every two lanes that help in flood irrigation and cutting the buds.”
Once the season is over in last week of March, the bulbs are removed from the soil, cleaned and stored in the cold storage till next sowing in August. Each bulb has good flowering capacity of 7-8 years, post that the production drops. “In April after removing the bulbs, I grow green gram followed by Basmati rice which is then harvested in July end. In this way from same farmland I harvest three crops. It is the ideal crop rotation module that ensures the soil remains fertile and there is consistent earning,” he says.
Attaining good flower production and demand Mr. Gurvinder decided to sell the flowers to bulk buyers on his own without any middlemen hence RTS Flowers came into being in 2014. “I started selling the flowers directly to the florists in nearby cities like Chandigarh, Ludhiana and Patiala. To reach more buyers I also started the facebook page and Indiamart webpage. Slowly and gradually a good network was established and I started selling flowers directly,” he asserts. The buds are cut before it blossoms as florists demand high shelf life of at least 15 to 20 days.
Mr. Gurvinder crafted a name for himself as the seller of gladiolus flowers as well as planting material. Farmers from different regions started visiting his farm to learn more about the farming practices and on their return they purchased the bulbs from him. “I started producing the planting material from the Mother stock though bulb propagation. It is cost and time effective method of propagation. Bulb is also called as corm. Every year the plant grows a new corm right on top of the old one. I dig the corms up at the end of summer for storage. Each corm has number of baby corms, known as cormels or cormlets, attached to the bottom. These cormlets are removed and transplanted separately to develop the bulbs,” he elaborates. The bulbs produced by him gave excellent production hence more and more farmers started asking for the planting material. “The entire process of bulb production takes 3 years. Every year I produce 1.5 lakh bulbs and these are sold out completely yet the demand remains unfulfilled. I usually sell the bulbs to farmers residing in Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.” Bulbs are sold at Rs. 2-2.5/piece.
Along with gladiolus Mr. Gurvinder also grows marigold in another 2.5 acres twice in a year, January and July respectively. The saplings are sourced every year in July from Kolkata at Re 1/sapling. “It is called as ‘Laddoo Genda’. The petals are extremely close and the flower is quite big in size. After harvesting, for the next season in January I develop my own marigold saplings. The plant-plant distance maintained is 1.5 feet while row-row 3 feet,” he shares.
In time to come he wants to continue growing the same crops because it is less time, labour and capital intensive. “I would add on more acres of cultivation but would stick to gladiolus and marigold flower farming. Personally I am not in favor of rose and gerbera cultivation in poly house for its high capital investment, low shelf life and stagnant selling price,” he reveals.
Farming is profitable if farmers give their 100% in terms of production and selling believes young farmer Mr. Gurvinder. He concludes, “We need to think out of the box and take actions that help us earn better. I ensure all my farm produce is best in quality hence the customer base keeps growing strong. Thus irrespective of market fluctuations we will always sail through tough times because quality is supreme!!”
Contact details:
Sohi Gladiolus Farm
Mr. Gurvinder Singh Sohi
S/o Mr. Gurdeep Singh Sohi,
Village Nanowal Kalan via Kakrala, Kalan Tehsil, Khamano District, Fatehgarh Sahib, Punjab – 141801
Phone – 09915310703
Email: sohi07@yahoo.co.in
Web: https://www.facebook.com/R-T-S-Flowers/
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