Working conditions & economic feasibility of floriculture in open cultivation & polyhouses: A comparative study
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Date
2019-12
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CCSHAU, Hisar
Abstract
India is an agricultural country and floriculture is an important branch of horticulture which is a major discipline of agriculture. It includes growing of flowers, foliage, ornamental plants and their marketing. The major floriculture crops in the global market are flowers such as carnation, rose, gerberas, lilium, chrysanthemum, rose, gaillardia, marigold, aster, tuberose etc. Presently, floriculture in different types of poly houses provides a great opportunity to farmers in terms of income generation and empowerment. Present study was planned in the four districts of Haryana state with four objectives. (i) To find out the farmers‟ knowledge about flower cultivation technology in the different types of polyhouses, (ii) To assess the working conditions in open cultivation and polyhouses,(iii) To compare the quality and quantity of flowers grown in open cultivation and polyhouses and (iv) To compare the economic feasibility of floriculture in open cultivation and polyhouses. For the first objective, 100 farmers having floricultural units were selected randomly from the four districts i.e. Hisar, Gurugram, Panipat and Sonepat. For the 2nd, 3rd and 4th objectives, three districts i.e. Hisar, Panipat and Sonepat were selected randomly and total four floriculture units i.e. one open cultivation and three different types of polyhouses: AISNH, WIT and NVPH were selected randomly for each flower i.e. english rose and lilium. Data were collected through the pre tested interview schedules and observation sheets. Results revealed that majority of farmers (87%) had the knowledge about AISNH type of polyhouses, all farmers had knowledge about structure/frame, insect net, shade net, 87 per cent farmers had knowledge about drip irrigation system and 77 per cent farmers had knowledge about covering sheet used in polyhouses. It was found that light in NVPH i.e. 374.6 lux was found to be significantly higher and temperature and humidity were significantly higher in WIT (34.6oC & 85.2% respectively) with CD 2.31 and 6.50 respectively. CO2 level was found to be significantly higher in WIT (1366.9ppm) with CD 168.03. It was concluded that quality and quantity of llium flowers and english rose were higher in all types of polyhouses as compared to the open cultivation. In case of lilium flower, maximum percent profit and benefit-cost ratio were found in NVPH polyhouse i.e. 57.31 per cent and 1.57 respectively followed by, AISNH (54.26% and 1.54), WIT (38.08% and 1.38) and open cultivation (11.19% and 1.11). Percent profit of english rose was highest in NVPH i.e. 62.17 percent followed by AISNH (53.49%), WIT (39.52%) and lowest in open cultivation (22.90%). Benefit-cost ratio was high in all type of polyhouses i.e. NVPH (1.62), AISNH (1.53) and WIT (1.39) as compared to open cultivation (1.30).