: India Imports 80% of Its Orchids. Meet the Telangana Farmer Changing This #IndiaNEWS #Agriculture Orchids are aesthetically pleasing flowers that are often used to decorate wedding venues in India.

India Imports 80% of Its Orchids. Meet the Telangana Farmer Changing This #IndiaNEWS #Agriculture
Orchids are aesthetically pleasing flowers that are often used to decorate wedding venues in India. But, did you know that 80 percent of orchids sold in the country are imported from Thailand? Samir Baghat, a successful Telangana industrialist with a steel and iron manufacturing business, has decided to slowly change that by growing these flowers on his farm in Sangareddy district, Telangana.
Samir and his relative Praveen Gupta decided to venture into the agri-business because they wanted to try something new and were always fond of growing plants.
Growing Orchids
In 2015, they purchased eight acres of land in Sangareddy, which they named Mistwood Farms, and started to experiment with growing vegetables such as zucchini and fruits like pomegranate. However, the experiment failed because the soil was predominantly black and did not support the healthy growth of crops.
“In 2016, while thinking about what I could grow without soil, I came across a farmer in Raipur who was growing orchids and was reaping decent profits by selling the cut flowers in the local flower market. These plants are not grown in soil but in another medium made of cocopeat predominantly. So I decided to try my hand at orchids too and did research online about how I could grow them in Telangana,??? says Samir, adding that he did 90 percent of his research on the internet and ordered tissue cultured saplings of the Dendrobium variety of orchids in various colours from Thailand.
The saplings were planted in pots with a mix of cocopeat and charcoal.
“The first few were a failure,??? recalls Samir. “Either they did not grow or did not produce flowers. But, after further research and providing extra care in terms of humidity and moisture, within 45-days we were successfully able to produce flowers. The flowers need a temperature of 20 degree Celsius and humidity of 80 percent to grow. So, I approached the horticulture department in Telangana to request their help to set up a polyhouse, on my farm, to regulate the temperature conditions. I also explained about the process of growing it and how if done on a large scale, it could generate profit as there were not many producers in India,??? says Samir.
After levelling the ground and setting up water drainage facilities, Samir set up his first polyhouse, with the support of the horticulture department, in April 2016. It was spread out across one acre and housed up to 50,000 pots of orchids.
Orchids growing in Samirs farm.
What are polyhouses?
Similar to greenhouses, polyhouses are plastic enclosures where microclimatic conditions such as humidity, moisture level and temperature can be controlled. These naturally-ventilated enclosures have shade nets, curtains and mini sprinklers, which are used to adjust the amount of sunlight, air, and moisture within.

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