Rose cultivation is a highly remunerative enterprise. The rose is the strongest component of domestic cut flower production and market. In most part of India the climate is such that there is no true dormant period for rose plants, and they attempt to flower throughout the year in a succession of flushes of blooms. Good quality is produced in winter and at this time market demand is high. Rose is one of the nature’s beautiful creations and is universally acclaimed as the ‘Queen of Flowers’.No other flower is a better symbol of love, adoration, innocence and other virtues than the rose.
It is certainly the best known and most popular of all garden flowers throughout the world and has been growing on this earth for many billion years before man himself appeared. It has become the part and parcel of life, being connected with all phases of life right from birth to death. The growing of this beautiful flower in India developed with the distillation of roses as mentioned in Ayurveda by Charaka around 100 A. D. The interest in cultivation, however, increased considerably mainly during the last three decades and economically stand first in the international market.
Its different types having beautiful flowers of exquisite shapes, different sizes, bewitching colours and most delightful fragrance has made it an important flower for various uses.The different ways in which rose can be used for large and small-scale plantings and as bush, climber, hedge, edge and pot plant, in hanging basket, cut flower, perfume and allied products (rose water, pankhuri, gul-rogan etc. . Present Scenario During winter months in the temperate countries the environmental conditions are unfavourable for the commercial production of roses. The temperature is too low, day length is shorter and the light intensity is lower. This situation demands heating the greenhouses to raise the temperatures from sub zero to 15-25°C and providing artificial lighting inside the greenhouses to maintain higher production and quality of flowers.
Furthermore, the labour in these countries is very expensive.All these conditions led to closer of some production units and looking for importing of roses from tropical countries. Columbia, Kenya and other African countries were contributing around 30 per cent of the total world production of roses, India’s contribution is insignificant. This prompted India to declare floriculture as an extreme focus to boost the export for earning much needed foreign exchange. Since then floriculture scenario in India has changed rapidly.
Several companies floated by people of different professions (businessman, doctors, engineers, chartered accountants, progressive farmers etc. and big business houses have been registered for production and export of roses, many of them are 100 per cent export oriented units. Since the production especially in export oriented units is targeted at international markets such as Europe, Japan, and USA, we have to grow the varieties that are more popular in those areas and maintain the high quality standards in terms of bud size, stem length, lush green leaves, free of pests and diseases and their damages.Many varieties that are preferred in those markets may not do well under open conditions. Even if some of them do produce good quality flowers in the open field conditions, protection against insect pests and diseases, unfavourable weather conditions such as continuous downpour rain etc. becomes very difficult.
Therefore, the flowers destined for export are required to be produced under greenhouse or polyhouse.
