Flowers fetch a good price during the festive season. During non-festival seasons, flowers are sold at a very low price in the market.

As a result, farmers are incurring huge losses due to lack of proper prices. Some farmers leave the flowers on the plant without plucking them. The next step is to get flowers in the plant. So, some farmers pluck flowers from the plants thinking that it does not matter if there is a loss. Shivraj Nishad, a farmer from Uttar Pradesh, dries the flowers and converts them into cash. Shivraj Nishad, 30, a resident of Sheikhpur in kanpur in Uttar Pradesh, had been working in the medical field for a few years.

The job didn't like it at one point. He immediately started cultivating flowers in his garden. But sometimes, he sees farmers dumping flowers in the ganga because they don't get the right price for their flowers. Nishad decided to settle the issue. The flowers are fresh for a short time only.  Desperately considering what to do with such flowers, Nishad came up with the idea of drying them and selling them.

Nishad said, "Farmers were unable to sell their flowers from our area and threw them in the river. Since I already knew something about medicinal plants, I decided to extend the life of the flowers and sell them. I came to know that dried flowers were in high demand in ayurveda and herbal medicine.

 Tea Powder
Knowing that purple coloured pea flowers can be used to make herbal tea, I dried them without changing their colour, medicinal properties, and aroma. It was well received. This herbal tea is beneficial in many ways, including diabetes and anti-ageing.  To expand my business, I also dried flowers like hibiscus and chamomile. Tea is made from the flower of Chamomile. When the flowers were dried in the open, dust and bird droppings came in. This damaged the flowers. So, I dried the flowers safely with a solar dryer.  Drying with a solar dryer preserved the quality perfectly. Now I sell 500 to 1,000 kg of dried flowers a month. He earns between Rs 1 lakh and Rs 4 lakh a month. Ten people are permanently employed.


Hundreds of farmers also benefit from this. Now I have 500 farmers who bring me any kind of flower and sell it. I also teach farmers how to dry their flowers. I have registered my brand under the name Blue Vedha. My aim is to ensure that the goods go directly from the farmers to the consumers.  We cut ginger and cinnamon with blue pea flowers into small pieces to improve their aroma. I also sell hibiscus and rose flowers as tea powder. Since there is a bright future for medicinal and herbal plants, I am going to start a separate company for it," he said.
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S Venkateshwari

26/08/2024 10:23 AM