BENGALURU BLOOMING

Thanks to favourable climate and government support, India’s tech capital is also its rose basket

- ABHINAV SINGH

Rose Day (February 7) kicks offValentine week, during which affections are revealed or strengthened with the exchange of roses. But, on the outskirts of Bengaluru, every day is Rose Day. Around four to five lakh roses are harvested daily in the city; the greenhouses together cover about 2,000 acres. Open field cultivation, too, produces a significant number of roses. The flowers are grown throughout the year in India’s tech capital, which has emerged as the nation’s rose basket.

The many floriculturists who migrated to Bengaluru suburbs in the 1990s have reaped rewards. Shrikanth Bollapally, who hails from Andhra Pradesh, moved to Doddaballapur near Bengaluru around 20 years ago. He grows roses in greenhouses on his 35-acre farm. Bollapally, who is president of the Flower Council of India, is from an agricultural family. But, no one in his family is into floriculture; they grow sugarcane, paddy, soybeans and sunflowers in Andhra Pradesh.

“I wanted to do something innovative in floriculture,” Bollapally told THE WEEK. “I took a bank loan and started greenhouse rose cultivation.” His business had grown and was doing well. But, Covid-19 posed a major challenge because of the postponement and cancellation of weddings and other events. “I am dependent on the Indian market,” he said. “Other big floriculturists in the area also export.” Things are slowly getting back on track for Bollapally and many others like him.