Panamaram: The cultivation of heliconia flowers, which although grown in barren land offers a windfall, is taking roots in the Wayanad district.
An investment of Rs 60,000 on one acre of waste land will fetch a whopping Rs 4.5 lakh per month from the seventh month. This may sound unreal, but a visit to the farm of Ignatius, also known as Kunnappally Siju, of Panamaram is enough to prove that this is quite possible.
This farmer has been earning a lot of money from floriculture with low investment and labour after he had almost given up farming when other crops proved completely disastrous due to disease, falling prices and wildlife disturbances. He stopped his hotel business in the town to cultivate heliconia.
As he started earning substantially good income from floriculture, he leased more fallow land and started farming. While the farm looks like a green forest when viewed from a distance, a closer look reveals a large and bright garden filled with heliconia that amazes with its colours and shapes.
This flower is used for wedding purposes and other decorations. A single heliconia flower fetches at least Rs 45 in the markets in other states.
Siju started farming heliconia with seeds he had brought from Sawantwadi on the Konkan coast of Maharashtra.
The farming method
Heliconia seeds are like those of small banana saplings. The plant can be grown in partial shade or under bright sunlight. The seeds have to be sowed with a distance of 10 feet. In a matter of months, the whole area will be densely populated with the growing plant.
It does not require any special fertilisers and also needs less work than with other crops to maintain after planting. Even low-cost chicken manure can be used as fertiliser.
It will cost about Rs 60,000 to plant, fertilise and maintain heliconia on an acre of land. If the field get water during monsoon, then no manure is required. Heliconia can be harvested from the seventh month after planting.
One acre yields over 10,000 flowers a month with each growing to a height of 3 feet to 10 feet. The crop planted for one year will provide yields for up to three years. In addition to this, farmers who started heliconia cultivation say that if they register for horticulture at the time of planting, they get Rs 80,000.
Problem in finding market
Despite the high yield and price, new growers are reluctant to cultivate heliconia because the flower has no market in Kerala. The flower is currently in high demand in Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Delhi.
Farmers say that the biggest problem is that they will be able to get a good price for the cultivation only if the harvested flowers are delivered to these places in good condition and that, too, at their own expense. Heliconia growers, however, say that there is no other crop that can make such huge amount of money, even if it takes a little hard work to find a market.
