Careers In Floriculture

From times immemorial, the sight and fragrance of flowers have invariably had a profound soothing effect on the mind of the beholder. Many poems have been penned on and numerous verses have been dedicated to the matchless beauty and peerless elegance of flowers in full bloom.

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A large stretch of Land filled with blooming daffodils led the romantic poet William Wordsworth to compose one of the most memorable lyrics of all times – The Daffodils. No matter how dry a person is, it is natural for him to get intoxicated no the whiff of the fresh fragrance of flowers. One gets into a reverie on the vision of a large field of colorful flowers. If you are a person who wants his workplace to be amidst such a surrounding and are willing to work hard to nurture and maintain such a farm. Floriculture is the right job for you. You will get a chance to live in dreamy surroundings and will never be short of money, since flowers are not for beauty and fragrance alone. Flowers have a commercial value, either as items of decoration or as a source of oil from their seeds. You should take up Floriculture in order to have a blossoming life and flowery income.

Floriculture is the cultivation of flowers for commercial purposes. In Floriculture one is required to take up research on developing improved, disease-resistant and high-yielding varieties of flowers and ensure cultivation of the same after checking their climatic and soil adaptability. Quality control is of prime importance in Floriculture. This is an aspect which has to be kept in mind constantly.

Floriculture is not a new branch of study in the strict sense of the term. Floriculture or flower farming as it is popularly called is a discipline of Horticulture, and is the study of growing and marketing flowers and foliage plants. Floriculture includes cultivation of flowering and ornamental plants for sales or for use as raw materials in cosmetic and perfume industry as well as the pharmaceutical sector. The persons associated with this field are called floriculturists.

People have always cultivated flowers for ornamental purposes at home, schools, colleges or office premises. In many of these places, planting of flowers may be done on a smaller scale. However, even here a gardener is indispensable. It is not wrong to say that all gardeners are technically floriculturists. Gardening’s roots can be traced to our remote past. So the concept of Floriculture is not an entirely new concept.

Eligibility

In order to study Floriculture, one should have completed 10+2 with Botany as an option. To get admitted into an agricultural university offering degree in Floriculture/Horticulture, one as to pass an entrance examinations conducted by them. The job of a Floriculturist involves studying the patterns, suitable geographical ambience and climatic conditions for the growth of various floral plant species. Hence a professional degree is required but you can also start up with a nursery without obtaining a degree or a diploma. Professional training is not a hard and fast requirement for getting a break in the professional of Floriculture. However, one should be willing to be hardworking and enterprising enough to maintain such a farm. A degree in Floriculture nevertheless serves to give that competitive edge over others engaged in the same profession.

Courses

B.Sc. degree in horticulture/agriculture is offered by numerous agricultural colleges all over the country. Durations, which may vary depending on the institutes, are of there, four or five years depending upon the institution concerned.

Where To Study

National Botanical Research Institute

Rana Pratap Marg,

P.B. No. – 436, Lucknow – 226001,

Uttar Pradesh

G.B. Pant University of Agriculture & Technology.

Pantnagar, Udhamsing Nagar – 263145, Uttarakhand

Tel. : 05944-233671

Website : www.gbput.ac.in

Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology

P.B.No. 6 , Palampur – 176061, Himachal Pradesh,

Tel : 01894-230741-43

Website : www.csir.res.in

Indian Agricultural Research Institute

Pusa Road, New Delhi – 110012

Dr. Yashwant Singh Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry

Nauni, Solan – 173230, Himachal Pradesh

Tell : 01792-252363

Website : www.yspuniversity.ac.in

Yashwantrao Chavan Maharashtra Open University.

Nashik – 422005, Maharashtra

Tel : 253-340228

Website : www.ycmou.com

Tamil Nadu Agriculture University

Faculty of Horticultre,

Coimbatore – 641003, Tamil Nadu

Tel : 04422-5511301

Website : www.tnau.ac.in

Prospects

Job opportunities are offered by various companies for career-conscious individuals.

• You can take up jobs as supervisors with floriculture companies.
• You can take up managerial or marketing positions with flower processing and marketing establishments.
• You can also get jobs as farm or estate managers whose job responsibilities include production of certain varieties of flowers placed on the high demand scale.
• You can work as specialists with the departments of horticulture and municipal corporations. They are employed by the government to look after and improvise plantation, nursery and landscaping projects run by the former.
• Job opportunities are also available with public sector undertakings and government hospitals, etc. that believe in maintaining a clean and green surrounding.

Through various self-employment schemes, you can establish your own business for the domestic or overseas market. You can grow plants with ornamental importance, run nurseries or prove consultancy on gardening and landscaping. You can go for marketing or can conduct seminars and workshops with the help of your knowledge of tissue culture and micro-propagation technologies, research work, etc. Floriculture has turned out to be a green posture for promising career-aspirants today.

Remunerations

For professionally trained Floriculturists working in private companies or public sector enterprise (PSE), the starting salary can be between Rs. 6,000 and Rs. 8,000. For those taking up managerial positions or marketing position in floriculture companies the salary can range between Rs. 12,000 and 20,000 or even higher. Those conducting research work on flowers can command a reasonable price as consultation fee. However, if you become an entrepreneur and serve the domestic or overseas market as a supplier of flowers there can be no limits to your income.