Department of Floriculture and Landscape Architecture Nauni,Solan (HP)

Dr SR Dhiman
Professor & Head

This Department, earlier known as Department of Floriculture and Landscaping,was carved out from department of Vegetable Crops and Floriculture in November, 1987. The Department is actively engaged in Teaching (Undergraduate &Postgraduate level), Research and Extension education activities pertaining to Floriculture and Landscaping.The department has made significant progress and ICAR (Indian Council of Agricultural Research) has recognized it as National Repository for Carnation and lead Centre for Chrysanthemum and Alstroemeria by the ICAR under under All India Coordinated Floriculture Improvement Project.

The research activities are mainly carried out under funding by ICAR; DST, NATP, NHB, HIMCOSTE, NABARD, PPVFRA, Ministry of Environment & Forests etc. The technologies developed from time to time are being disseminated to the farmers for adoption.

The Department has published more than 300 research papers in leading national and international journals, 30 book chapters, 20 books and manuals and more than 200 popular articles for technology dissemination to the farmers and entrepreneurs. Department in its journey of over 36 years has been able to generate human resources for the country in the form of 182 M.Sc. and 47 Ph.D. students who are well absorbed as scientists/ officials in various SAU’s/ ICAR Institutes, State Horticulture Departments, education Departments (Vocational teachers) and many work in seed companies, floriculture production units, landscape managers in India and abroad and some run their own floriculture nurseries and units.

Mandate

To Develop human resources in the field of Floriculture and Landscaping by imparting education at undergraduate and post graduate levels and dissemination of technology to farmers and entrepreneurs
Introduction, evaluation and development of new cultivars of ornamental crops
Standardization of propagation, production and post-harvest technology including drying & value addition of flower crops, pot plants and landscape plants

Strengths

Hi tech production farm is spread over an area of 1.0 hac having 5 polyhouses, cold store facility including pre-cool and grading packing hall, refrigerated van and a training hall for the production of cut flowers like; carnation, chrysanthemum, rose and Lilium for the demonstration of recent technologies to the students, farmers and entrepreneurs.
A well facilitated Research farm with 17 polyhouses, 6 shade net houses, 1 glass house and 5 mist chambers for harbouring precious germplasm of ornamental plants.
Rich germplasm collection of different ornamental crops and their genotypes: carnation: 72; chrysanthemum: 164; gladiolus: 41; daffodils: 25; lilium: 20; alstroemeria: 11; grasses: 5; potted plants: 80; ferns: 9; palms: 5; cactii and succulents: 20; bulbous plants: 30, flowering annuals: 40 and rose: > 400 and many more.
A fully equipped Floral craft lab with more than 250 specimens of dry flower value added products like dry flower arrangements, dry flower sticks, pot-pourri, wall pictures, file covers, mirrors, floral rakhi, pine cone memento, incense sticks and herbal gulaletc for dissemination of technology to the students, farmers, visitors and entrepreneurs.
A fully equipped lab facility for mass propagation of plants through tissue culture.
Consultancy on Landscaping and commercial floriculture by devoted and fully qualified faculty, Plant rental services, Cold storage facilities, Venue decoration and Car decoration etc.

Academics

The department offers degree programmes for:

M. Sc (Horticulture) Floriculture and Landscape Architecture
Ph. D Floriculture and Landscape Architecture

Achievements

Gaurav Singh Dhakad cleared DRDO Ceptam 10 exam in the year 2023 and now recruited as Senior Technical Assistant-B in DRDO.
Anshul Kumar got The Best M.Sc. Thesis Award from ‘International conference on innovative approaches in Agriculture, Horticulture and Applied Sciences’ in the year 2023

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SabhyaPatahnia got The Best M.Sc.Thesis Award in the Conference by ‘Advancement of Science and Technology for Environment, Society and people’ in the year 2022.
Anshul Kumar got The Best Poster Award in conference by ‘Advancement of Science and Technology for Environment, Society and People’ in the year 2022.
Rahul Negi, Medalis Pala, Shabnam Pangtu and Neha Grace got the National Fellowship and Scholarship for higher studies of ST students in the year
Panchal Sangmesh cleared ICAR SRF Exam in the year 2021 and got 1^st rank, now pursuing his Ph.D. from IARI New Delhi.
Kanika Samyal got The Best M.Sc. Thesis Award from the ‘Society for Scientific Development in Agriculture and Technology’ in the year 2021
Poonam Sharma got The Best M.Sc. Thesis Award for from ‘Society for Advancement of Human and Nature’ in the year 2021.
Rahul Sharma cleared ICAR SRF Exam in the year 2020 and got 18^th rank, now pursuing his Ph.D. from Punjab Agricultural University Ludhiana.
Dinesh Kumar cleared ICAR SRF Exam in the year 2020 and got 10^th rank, now pursuing his Ph.D. from Navsari Agricultural University, Gujarat.
Deachen Dolma cleared ICAR SRF Exam in the year 2020 and got 3^rd rank in ST category, now pursuing his Ph.D. from IARI New Delhi.
Nidhi got Inspire Fellowship for pursuing Ph.D. in the year 2020.
Meenakshi Basoli, Sapna Kaushal, Priti and Arshi Sultanpuri joined as Assistant Scientists in Dr YS Parmar University in the year 2020.
Sangeeta Kumari, Gitam Sharma, Shweta Sharma, Mallika Thakur, AmitaAbrol, and Nikita Vaid cleared HPSSC HDO examination and recruited as Horticulture Department Officers while Kanika Mehant and Anshul Kumar recruited as Horticulture Extension Officer in the year 2019.

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ELP Students practicing disbudding in carnation

Chrysanthemum cultivar Early White at Hi tech Floriculture Farm

Research

Thrust Areas

To impart education at undergraduate and postgraduate level.
Germplasm biodiversity, conservation and crop improvement
Production Technology of flowers under open and polyhouse conditions including off-season flower production
Mass multiplication of plants through conventional methods and tissue culture
Post-harvest, dehydration &value- addition technology of ornamentals
Explore possibilities for commercialization of wild ornamentals of Himachal Pradesh.
Landscape plants and turf grass management

Major Ongoing Research Projects

All India Co-ordinated Floriculture improvement Project (AICFIP) funded by ICAR, DFR.
Establishment of DUS coordinating centre at Dr. Y S Parmar University of Horticulture & Forestry, Solan for carnation and Phalaenopsis floricultural crops funded by PPV & FRA, GOI.
Validation of DUS testing guidelines for Lilium (Liliumsp; Oriental, Asiatic, LA hybrids and OT hybrids) funded by PPV & FRA, GOI.
Popularization of technology on value addition in dry flowers & linking farmers to the market funded by NABARD, Shimla.

Achievements

Developed new cultivars in gladiolus (SolanMangla, SolanUday, Solan Swati), chrysanthemum (SolanShringar), carnation and Alstroemeria
Off -season flower production of chrysanthemum
Production technology for carnation, gladiolus, Lilium, Alstroemeria, China aster and marigold
Development of improved methods of propagation in commercial flower crops like chrysanthemum, carnation, lilium, marigold etc.
Technology for Post harvest handling of commercial flower crops such as Carnation, Chrysanthemum, Alstroemeria, Gerbera, Gladiolus, Lilium, Rose, China Aster and Hydrangea etc.
Drying of Gomphrena, Ornithogallum, Craspedia, Helichrysum, Brija, Bromus, Lagurus and agricultural wastes and native flora to make value added products
Preparation of Herbal Gulal and Incense sticks from waste flowers

Extension

The Departmentis engaged in conductingtraining programmes under different projects, delivering lectures to the farmers and officers/ officials visiting this university as well as training programmes organized by other agencies as and when required. Delivering Radio and TV Talks, diagnostic visits, exposure visits and publishing popular articles, technical bulletins etc. are other extension activities of the Department.

Besides this, the department is involved in coordinating exposure visits and field visits of students/staff of schools/colleges/universities under various programmes organized by universities/state department of horticulture & agriculture.

Achievments

Organized 11 trainings on Commercial Floriculture under SCSP of AICFIP in 2021-22 and 2022-23 in the Gram Panchayats of Shamrod, KotlaPanjola, Chemanji, DaroDevria, Mendo Bagh, Ramshahar, Jubbadhatti, Oeli, Jaunaji and Sinahaghat.
Organized 25 training programmes on dry Flowers and value-addition in which more than 400 farmers have been trained.

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Organized one Master’s training Programme on Commercial Floriculture and Value-addition from February 1-7, 2023 under MOU conducted between HPKVN and UHF Nauni.
One day training programme under the project ‘Dissemination of technology for year round production of elite planting material of ‘Laddu Gainda’ for mid hills of Himachal Pradesh’, was held for the farmers of Solan and Sirmour Dist. of Himachal Pradesh on March 30, 2022.
One day training programme under the project ‘Dissemination of technology for year round production of elite planting material of ‘Laddu Gainda’ for mid hills of Himachal Pradesh’ was held for the farmers of Solan and Sirmour Dist. of Himachal Pradesh on March 29, 2022.
Organized one basic training course on Commercial Floriculture and Value-addition from December29 to January 4, 2022 under MOU conducted between HPKVN and UHF Nauni.
Four days training on Dry Flowers and value added Products from September 6-9,2021 under the project ‘Popularization of technology on value-addition I dry flowers and linking farmers to the market.
Four days training on Dry Flowers and value added Products September 15-18,2021 under the project sponsored by NABARD.
Organized 72 contact hours Vocational Certificate course on Dry Flowers and Value- added products under NAHEP- IDP fromNovember12, 2021 to July 29, 2022 both in online and offline mode.
The scientists have delivered more than 100 Radio/ TV talks focussing on flower production and have developed more than 10 extension bulletins.

Training on Dry Flower Production

Awards/ Achievements

Dr SR Dhiman was conferred ‘Meritorious Services Award’ by Hon’ble Governor and Chancellor of Dr YS Parmar University Acharya Dev Vrat on December 1, 2018.
ICAR has identified this centreas TheNational Repository for Carnation and as TheLead Centre for chrysanthemum and alstroemeria under All India Coordinated Floriculture Improvement Project.
Dr Bharati Kashyap receivedAppreciation letter from Himachal Dastak for the contribution in Floriculture and Floral Craft on March 8, 2020.
Dr Bharati Kashyap receivedAppreciation letter from Honble Vice Chancellor, Dr HC Sharma for outstanding contribution in floriculture and Floral Craft on June 12, 2019.
Dr Puja Sharma received The Best Oral Paper Award for ‘Mass multiplication of medicinally important Ghingaru- (Pyracantha crenulata) and its exploitation as a commercial landscape plant’ authored by Sharma Puja, Kashyap B, Dhiman SR, Gupta YC and Kumari S. In: ‘National Conference on Ornamental Horticulture to Uplift Rural Economy’ organized by Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture and Technology, Udaipur, Rajasthan held on January 11-13, 2019 at Udaipur, Rajasthan.
Dr Bharati Kashyap received TheBest Oral presentation award for the paper on ‘Income generation through dried flowers: diversification in raw materials, designs and techniques’ authored by Kashyap Bharati, Dhiman SR, Sharma Puja and Gupta YC; in National Conference on ‘Floriculture for Rural and Urban Prosperity in the Scenario of Climate Change’ held on February 16-18, 2018 at Ranipool, Gangtok, Sikkim.
Dr Puja Sharma received The Best Oral presentation Award for the paper on ‘Effect of different preservative solutions, wrapping materials and storage durations on extending vase life of lilium hybrids’ authored by Sharma Puja, Dhiman S R, Kashyap B and Gupta Y C. In: ‘National Conference on ‘Floriculture for Rural and Urban Prosperity in the Scenario of Climate Change’ held on February 16-18, 2018 at Ranipool, Gangtok, Sikkim.
The Second Best Poster Award for the paper on ‘Evaluation of Lilium hybrids under mid hill conditions of Himachal Pradesh” authored by Kumari S, Dhiman S R, Sharma Puja and Dhiman M R. In: ‘National Conference on Floriculture for Rural and Urban Prosperity in the Scenario of Climate Change’ held on February 16-18, 2018 at Ranipool, Gangtok, Sikkim.
Dr Bharati Kashyap received The Best Oral presentation award for the paper on ‘Utilization of Agri-horticultural crops/wastes for making dry flowers and value added products for employment generation’ in National Conference on Alternate Farming systems to Enhance Farmer’s Income organized by Indian Ecological Society held on September 19- 21, 2017 at DR YSPUHF, Nauni, Solan.
Dr Bharati Kashyap received The Best Oral presentation award for the paper on ‘Dehydration and value- addition of native flora of Himachal Pradesh for making dry flowers’ in II^nd Himachal Pradesh Science Congress at Peter Hoff Shimla organized by HIMCOSTE held on November 20-21, 2017.
The paper ‘Study on genetic diversity and cluster analysis of different carnation cultivars authored by Chauhan Pratibha, Dhiman SR, Kashyap, Bharati, Gupta, YC and Dogra RK was adjudged as The Best Research Paper– 2017 published in Journal of Ornamental Horticulture, published by Indian Society of Ornamental Horticulture.
An incubatee of the Department under CM Start Up Scheme;Mr Ravinder Prashar has established a unit on incense sticks ‘Yuvan Vendors’ at Una from flower waste and received Annual Entrepreneurship Award 2019-20 from HP Centre for Entrepreneurship Development.
An incubatee of the Department under CM Start Up Scheme;MsBimla Devi has established her own unit of Dry Flowers ‘Everlastings’ and got The Award of Best Innovative Productsfrom HPSRLM,RDO in Himachal SARAS-23 at Kalagram Chandigarh held on Februray 1-13, 2023.

Facilities

A Hi tech production farmspread over an area of 1.0 hac having 5 polyhouses, cold store facility including pre-cool and grading packing hall, refrigerated van and a training hall for the production of cut flowers like; carnation, chrysanthemum, rose and Lilium for the demonstration of recent technologies to the students, farmers and entrepreneurs.
A well facilitated Research farm(2.5 hac)with 17polyhouses, 6 shade net houses, 1 glass house and 5 mist chambers for harbouring precious germplasm of ornamental plants.
A fully equipped Floral craft lab with more than 250 specimens of dry flower value added products with facility for drying and value addition of flowers.
Tissue Culture lab
Consultancyon Landscapingand commercial floriculture
Plant rental services
Rental Cold storage facilities and refer Van
Venue decoration by flowers and rangolies
Car decoration etc.