Floriculture success: Bengaluru farmer earns Rs 1.5 lakh per month

Bengaluru: Lohith Reddy, a 31-year-old from Kommasandra in Bengaluru, Karnataka, after completion of his engineering degree, decided to venture into the floriculture sector. Although he belonged to the farmers’ family, he was aware of the hard labour in this sector. He used to take a keen interest in the flowers since his school days.

His curiosity increases after seeing his cousin, who had been selling flowers since 1995. He said that “I used to take interest in the flower growth; therefore, I started commercial flower farming,” Lohith says. His interest in the floriculture sector boosted his passion to adopt it as his profession.

Lohith entered into the floriculture sector in 2018. He built his farm with an investment of Rs 15 lakh. He set up a polyhouse, invested 8 lakh, and bought over 12,000 gerbera plants. He got bumper production and started selling about 40,000 to 50,000 gerbera flowers in the Bengaluru market every month, earning Rs 1.5 lakh monthly.

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However, growing flowers was not free from challenges for Reddy. The biggest issue for him was the sensitivity of some flowers, such as chrysanthemums; they need darkness for at least 17-18 hours, which is possible during winter months. So providing darkness was the challenge for him. But he didn’t lose heart and started experimenting with other varieties such as pink Santini, yellow Santini, and red Calimero to find a suitable climate for the proper growth of flowers.

The temperature of Bengaluru was ideal for the growth of chrysanthemum. He managed the chrysanthemum farming through artificial methods, like fixing nets to control light exposure and sprinkling water to maintain freshness and humidity. At present, Reddy’s chrysanthemum farm, ‘Lohith Flora,’ is famous in the entire region as well as doing dazzling business.