“With more people interested in cut flowers, gerbera and carnations through the year, this market is only going to grow,” said a trader from the flower division of Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee. Each day, the market sees trade of about 45-50 tonnes.

“The Pune market is nearby and gives us good prices. Sugarcane would not have given me more than Rs 70,000 in the 18 months it takes to grow. With flowers, the income is 40 per cent more and assured in all seasons depending on the flowers we grow. It also requires 60 per cent less water,” Chowdhary said.

According to Pune district agriculture department there has been a substantial rise in the acreage under open house floriculture cultivation but in relative terms it is still only a marginal shift in the region’s farming pattern.

“Bajra grows over 1.2 lakh hectares; a couple of hundred hectares shift to floriculture will not make a difference in the output. The same goes for sugarcane, a couple of hectares here and there will make little difference. But flowers provide a significant increase in incomes,” said Pune district superintending agriculture officer Ravindra Bhosale.

This season, this newfound love for flowers paid rich dividends because of the intermittent rains in the state. “As Purandar taluka and Satara district are more rain-fed, they were not able to send flowers to the Pune market. Villages around Pune with better irrigation networks were able to cash in on the shortage and got better prices,” said Chowdhary.

“Also, new irrigation projects like Ghod and Dimbhe are promising assured water supply. It is gaining ground in Khed, Ambegaon, and some parts of Junnar as well,” Bhosale said.

In Pune district, tuberose was subsidised by the department over 134 hectares in 2007-08, an additional 210 hectares was added in the next five months alone, from April to August 2008.