Punjab has a total area of about 1.68 lakh hectares under horticulture, which also includes the floriculture branch. Baldev Singh, Director, Horticulture, says, “The area under floriculture in Punjab is still very small—1,500 hectares. Farmers had begun to diversify into flowers and flower seed production owing to huge demand in the urban areas, besides there is a good export market. Punjab annually exports flower seeds to the tune of Rs 5 crore. But this year frost has severely affected its production. Marigold is the worst hit, as the farmers were to pick the flower when the bad weather hit.”

Notably, out of the total of 1,500 hectares, around 900 are used for producing cut-flowers, while the rest are used for producing seeds, which are mainly exported.

Avtar Singh, a flower seed producer and exporter whose fields in Langria village were featured in Yash Chopra’s blockbuster ‘Veer Zara’, is not a happy man these days. “Our business has been awfully hit. This time, we will be able to export seeds worth Rs 1 crore only. Our main export destination is Holland,” he says.

Dhindsa, who is also chairman of the Confederation of Punjab Farmers, says, “On one hand we have been hit by the bad weather, on the other competition from neighbouring states is adding to our woes. If we fail to fulfill our export commitments in time, the buyers will turn to growers of Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.”