floriculture

In 2019, Shivraj Nishad from Shekhpur village in Kanpur left his job to start a small-scale business cultivating, harvesting, and dehydrating local flowers such as butterfly pea, rose, hibiscus, marigold, tulsi, jasmine, and chamomile. Utilising solar dryers, he expanded his venture, employing over 100 farmers and offering 15 varieties of dried flowers.

From tech professionals to traditional farmers, meet five individuals who turned their passion for flowers into thriving floriculture businesses, earning profits and transforming lives.

Abhinav Singh quit his high paying corporate job in England to start gerbera farming on his ancestral land at Chilbila village in Uttar Pradesh.

Chokhone Krichena from Mao, Manipur, is leading Dianthe to bridge the gap between rural floriculture farmers and urban markets. By guaranteeing the farmers marketability and fair prices, Chokhone is helping them boost their incomes, and ensuring that the beauty of Mao’s flowers reaches cities across India.

Bengaluru's Lohith Reddy left behind a promising career in engineering to follow his passion for floriculture. From growing gerberas to expanding into chrysanthemums, his dedication to quality and innovation has transformed his flower farm, ‘Lohith Flora’, into a thriving business.

“When I introduced Sonchafa among Mogra sellers, they had neither heard of, nor seen such a flower; and so for weeks, I offered it to them for free as an incentive,” says D’Britto.