An enquiry into the challenges faced by Flower farmers in Salem district – A qualitative study

Abstract

Flowers have always been an integral part of Indian culture and society. With globalization and
free market economy, flower farming has attained an industrial status and has gained
tremendous momentum in the last few years. Flowers are now commercially cultivated in several
states with Tamil Nadu (20%), Karnataka (13.5%) and West Bengal (12.2%). The major
objective of the study is to identify the challenges faced of flower farming in Salem district of
Tamil Nadu. Study was conducted in Salem district and 10 Flower farmers are selected through
referrals (snow ball sampling). This study is a qualitative study and questions are asked on the
basis of the response given by the flower farmers. Through this study the research wanted to get
a broader idea about flower farming and the issues or problems faced by flower farmers in the
Salem district of Tamil Nadu. The flower farmers face lot of problems especially in the area of
marketing of flowers. There are productions or cultivation related issues. The flower farmers feel
the role of middlemen in flower farming need a rethinking. The flower farmers acknowledge that
the middlemen play a vital role but at the same time they also exploit the flower farmers in
pricing, assessing the quality and also in weighing the flowers. This study is the staring of series
of studies to be conducted by the researcher so the future studies will focus on various other
issues in flower farming