Drought-prone areas in Satara turn into greenhouses

PUNE: The drought-prone area in Satara district, where average annual rainfall is around 450 mm, has transformed itself into a major hub of greenhouses, producing flowers like Jerbera, Carnations and Dutch roses and coloured capsicum.
This business, termed as high-value agriculture produce, at present generates an annual turnover of Rs 60 crore and also offers employment to the rural population.
There are about 2,200 greenhouses in the Maan, Khatav and Koregaon talukas and the prospects of higher returns on investment are encouraging more and more farmers to set up greenhouses.
Vedantikaraje Bhosale, chairperson of the Ajinkyatara fruits and flowers trading co-operative society, said, "Major markets for these flowers are Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai and Pune. Train and air service is used to transport the commodities as they have a short shelf life. Many farmers are growing coloured (red and yellow) capsicum, which is in great demand from luxurious hotels."
Vikas Patil, district superintending agriculture officer, said, "A greenhouse is constructed over minimum 10 guntha land, which is one fourth of one acre. A farmer can plant 3,000 saplings in the 10 guntha piece of land, which produces close to 90,000 flowers annually.
Jerbera attracts around Rs 2.50 per stem whereas Carnations and Dutch roses are marketed at Rs 8 to Rs 10 per flower. The capsicum, which has higher demand from luxurious hotels, fetches around Rs 50 Rs 150 per kg." Such high value agriculture produce has not only increased the farmers' income, but has also generated employment in these talukas.
"Today, every worker in the greenhouse earns around Rs 100 to Rs 150 per day," he added.
The current challenge for the business is the increase in prices of water soluble fertilisers. These fertilisers are imported at a high cost, as they are not produced domestically. The other input costs are purchase of saplings where each sapling costs around Rs 30. Also, red soil has to be bought and transported to the greenhouses.
The cumulative investment for a 10-guntha greenhouse is around Rs 2 lakh and it increases with the size of the greenhouse. The government has also provided a subsidy to those farmers whose greenhouse need replantation, Patil said.