Recent varietal development of flower crops in India

Indian floriculture is characterized by the cultivation of flowers that are basically suited for garland making, worship and decoration. This industry has been shifted from traditional loose flowers to cut flowers for niche and export markets. there is need to develop more and more varieties which are climatic resilient; tolerance to various biotic and abiotic varieties. In recent times, number of varieties was evolved from various institutes/Universities of India for commercial production of flowers. ICAR- Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi; ICAR- Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Bengaluru; CSIR-National Botanical Research Institute, Lucknow; CSIR- Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, Lucknow; CSIR- Institute of Himalayan Bioresource technology, Palampur, tamilnadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore; Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana are pioneer in scientific front on floricultural crops. The varieties of commercial flowers such as Rose (16), Gladiolus (17), Crysanthemum (25), marigold (06), carnation (02), tuberose (01), gerbera (03), etc. have been released and added value to our cultivated wealth of flower crops. Some of the recently developed varieties of commercial flowers in India from public sector are reviewed hereunder.