Zones of Floriculture under Protected Cultivation in Haryana: A Geographical Study

Abstract

Protected cultivation, an innovative route to raise seasonal and off-seasonal plants under controlled environment, has significant potential for augmenting the crop yields, generating employment, effectively utilizing land, and enhancing the export. The geographical study of cropping pattern of flowers plays a vital role in understanding the agricultural transformation of an area. This study has the following objectives: (i) to study the area of flowers, majorly grown under protected cultivation in Haryana (ii) to find out the different zones of these flowers under protected cultivation in Haryana. Here, the distribution of the flowers (i.e., Rose, Gerbera and Lilium) under protected cultivation in Haryana is studied for the time period from 2015 to 2021. After collection of the secondary data from the Horticulture Department, Government of Haryana, maps are prepared using Arc GIS for better representation of the distribution of these flowers throughout the State. District-wise area of the flowers under protected cultivation is also studied. The findings of the study showed a sharp decline in protected cultivation of Gerbera and Lilium in Haryana after 2016-17, caused by a combination of economic, climatic, and geographical challenges. Several other challenges involve disease incidence, high maintenance costs, perishability, and unstable market prices. In contrast, Rose cultivation remained relatively stable, due to their adaptability to local conditions. The identification of potential zones for these flowers under protected cultivation can help policy makers and farmers for developing and implementing region-specific frameworks in order to achieve balanced and sustainable growth of floriculture throughout the State.