Drying of Ornamental Flowers: An Income Earning Venture

The art of drying ornamental flowers and their parts is a flourishing art from olden days. The use of dried floral parts in a variety of products has now become a major business worldwide and this art has transformed from hobby to dollar earning venture. The Andaman and Nicobar Islands is a storehouse of variety of ornamental plants and provides ample opportunities for dry flower making. Agriculture land holding is very less in the Island, hence the additional activities along with farming will help in increased economic benefit to the farmers. Dry flower technique is one such avenue which may be exploited in the Island by the use of native ornamental plant wealth and provide employment opportunites for farm women, tribal women, self help groups and unemployed youth. When the dry flower is developed as an enterprise for manufacturing of various procuts many techniques of drying are standardized that may be used for successful production. However, for intiation of small scale cottage industry simple drying techniques may be employed.