MUMBAI: Impressed by the
floriculture industry growing at 15 to 20 per cent annually,
the state government is all set to open a massive flower
auction house in Aarey Milk Colony at Goregaon within two
months. Set up by Maharashtra Agro Industries Development
Corporation Ltd (MAIDC), the over two lakh sq ft single-storey
building aims at promoting the flower industry by improving
farming, trading and processing practices, besides increase
in export.
“The market is being developed on the concept of
chain-management, including backward and forward linkages,
like the agriculture produce market committees. With 4
lakh stems and cut flowers expected to arrive daily, the
market will link growers to collection-centre and advisory
services,” said a MAIDC official. Most importantly,
the facility intends to ensure flower-growers get a fair
price for their produce, the official added.
“A grower gets Rs5 or Rs6 per flower as against
the market price of Rs25 at which say, a rose flower is
sold. Huge money goes to the middlemen and agents and we
want to avoid this. Therefore, the auctioning will be on
digital and electronic system, which could be linked to
other markets,” the official said. The auction house
will house 56 buyers to bid and is expandable to 112 buyers.
The
state-of-the-art market will also have cold storage facilities
and a system to record the entire operation from receipt
of flowers to its despatch.
The export of floriculture products
have continued to exhibit impressive growth, with an average
growth of 20 per cent with exports currently valued at
over Rs300 crore. The export product basket comprises dry
flowers and plants (60 per cent), fresh cut flowers (30
per cent), ornamental plants, cut foliage, flower seeds,
etc (10 per cent).
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