For generations, Gurwinder Singh's family has cultivated wheat and rice. He noticed that despite the hard work farmers put into their fields, they struggle to earn a decent income.
“In contrast, floriculture can yield two to three times the income compared to traditional wheat farming,” says the 45-year-old.
Today, the Punjab resident grows 40 varieties of exotic flowers — including California poppy, gladiolus, and calendula — on 22 acres of land in his village, Nanowal.
He produces around 10 tonnes of flowers in a five-month season, earning an income of Rs 1 lakh per acre.
But flower farming came with its own set of challenges. “In the past, we planted gladiolus flower bulbs by hand in beds, ensuring the pointed end faced upwards. This was a slow and labour-intensive process,” he says.
“Farmers believe that unless you plant the bulbs as specified, they wouldn’t grow. They thought that the machines wouldn’t do it right. After researching, I found this belief to be untrue,” he adds.
He decided to make a suitable planting machine that helped plant flower bulbs and reduce the farmers’ time and cost.
Explaining the features of the machine, Gurwinder says, “This semi-automatic machine has a circular plate with holes in it. The bulbs are dropped on the beds through these circular plates.”
“Earlier, it would take an entire day for 30 labourers to plant bulbs on an acre of land. Now, with five people, we are able to plant bulbs in just two hours. With this, we save Rs 40,000 per acre on labour costs.”
Other than the planting machine, he has also developed machines for digging and grading purposes.
In 2019, Gurwinder received national recognition for his farming innovations. Recently, he was recognised at the state level by Chief Minister Bhagwat Mann.