Boosting floriculture in J&K

Sir,
Flowers are the symbol of grace and dignity.They are beautiful to look at and soothe our eyes and troubled minds.They have been in use since olden times.They have inspired many poets and painters.They are an inseparable part of Hindu mythology and religion and  have become so indispensable in our social and cultural life that we cannot do without them.They are used on all occasions-weddings, religious occassions and even on sad occassions such as  death or rituals associated with death.Floral tributes are also paid to great  leaders and men of eminence on their birth/death anniversaries. Not only this, the lovers offer flowers to each other on Valentine Day to express their love.The bouquets of flowers are offered to the VIPs to welcome them on important occassions and functions.They have an aesthetic value and thus,are in high demand on the eve of some religious days such as Deepawali, Janamashtami, Shivratri,Christmas etc.when temples and homes are decorated with the flowers of various hues and flowers are offered to Gods and Goddesses.Besides, flowers such as rose are used to extract rose water from them.Thus the flowers, being used on umpteen occassions, have a great market both at national and international level. Therefore , in view of the rising demand of the flowers,efforts must be made to promote floriculture in our state so that small and marginal farmers adopt it as an alternative means of livelihood.Awareness camps must be organised by the concerned departments and farmers should be made aware about the vast scope of floriculture and the use of modern techniques, pesticides, manures, fertilizers etc in time and in proper quantity for reaping a good crop of flowers.They should also be properly guided to market the flowers at regional, national and international level.Our state is blessed with unmatched natural beauty and the soil and the climate of our state is conducive to the growth of many flowers such as tulips,dahlia, marigold etc.The facilities such as packaging and preservation of plucked flowers should be provided to the flower growers at Block level.All this will boost floriculture and help in ushering in prosperity and providing opportunity to the unemployed youth to earn their livelihood.
Yours etc…..
Ashok Sharma,
Udhampur.

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