SHIMLA: This year's Valentine's week has brought cheers on the faces of floriculturists and florists in Shimla as the demand for flowers has increased providing them good income in comparison to previous years.Jubbar Hatti resident and flower grower Ram Gopal Thakur said that earlier he has been growing vegetables but since he has moved from traditional farming to floriculture, he is earning a lot in three of his polyhouses. He said that now in his area alone, there are around 40 polyhouses covering around 25 bighas of land where only flowers are grown in large scale and many such polyhouses are in Mashobra and Sainj area of Theog. "In one season alone, I easily earn around Rs 4 lakh through sales of flowers," he added.He said the demand for flowers is much higher during the Valentine's week and this year he had 50% increment in sales. He said Carnations are in demand everywhere and he is growing them in white, red, pink, yellow and purple, for which the demand increases during the Valentine's and wedding seasons. He said it has also forced him to keep labourers. Shimla flower growers including him are also growing Liliums which are produced occasionally. However, roses which remain in demand, are not grown much in Shimla due to low temperature so these are brought from Solan district or other states. "I usually sell flowers in bulk to Chandigarh and Delhi and now local flower sellers at Shimla are also buying flowers from us," he added.A florist at Shimla Sabji Mandi , Raj Kumar , said due to increased demand they are selling each bouquet for Rs 60 and individual flowers for Rs 5 or 6. "It is good for us that now people of Shimla are also interested to buy flowers, not only the youth but also the elderly people, for different occasions including Valentine's day. We keep flowers for every occasion like weddings, festivals, poojans and more," he added.Shimla horticulture development officer (floriculture) Sudershana Negi said floriculture is provides more benefit if it is done collectively by forming societies instead of individually. In Shimla, the associations cultivating flowers are benefited more during special occasions.

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