Where flowers bloom...

Like many other farmers, mixed farming has proved to be beneficial for Palayya, a farmer in Katlarahatti in Challakere taluk of Chitradurga district. After he experienced shortage of water due to the lack of rains, he shifted from long-term crops to short-term crops a decade ago. Along with vegetables like chilli, ridge gourd, brinjal, bottle gourd and bitter gourd, he also grows flower crops like velvet flower and whitechrysanthemum. The whole family works together in the farm and doesn’t depend on external
labour.
Velvet flower is a relatively new crop to this region. In fact, one of his relatives gave him the seeds and as the flower was new to him, Palayya was hesitant to grow it. He casually spread the seeds near the vegetable patches and to his surprise, they grew into healthy seedlings with minimum inputs.
The flowers bloomed in a month’s time. Initially, there was not much demand for this flower in the market. Now the situation has changed and there is a growing demand in Chitradurga and Challakere markets. As a result, velvet flower has become one of the major income-generating crops for