POST-HARVEST MANAGEMENT AND MARKETING OF ORCHIDS – NORTHEAST REGION PERSPECTIVES
1. CREDIT SEMINAR
HOR – 691 (MAJOR)
ON
POST-HARVEST MANAGEMENT AND MARKETING OF ORCHIDS –
NORTHEAST REGION PERSPECTIVES
Presented by:
ANDREW LALTHAWMLIANA
Ph – 171/14
Dept. Of Horticulture
NU: SASRD
Medziphema Campus
Date: 16.12.2015
2. INTRODUCTION
• Orchids are one of the largest groups of flowering plants known for
their diversity of habits and habitats.
• Family Orchidaceae comprises of 22,500 species, under 779 genera
(Mabberly, 2008)
•In international trade - orchids ranks 6th in top 10 cut flowers
• Among orchids Cymbidium ranks the 1st position
• Orchids accounts for 3 % of the total cut flower production (De et.
al., 2013).
• India – 1300 spp.
• Northeast – 890 spp.
3. State-wise distribution of Species in NER-India
Sl. No. State No. of Species
1 Arunachal Pradesh 600
2 Assam 182
3 Manipur 207
4 Meghalaya 300
5 Mizoram 273
6 Nagaland 241
7 Sikkim 540
8 Tripura 66
4. Selected State-wise Area and Production of Orchids in India
(2013-2014)
(Area : In ' 000 Hectare ; Production : Loose In ' 000 MT, Cut In Lakh Number)
States Area Production (Loose) Production (Cut)
Assam 0.36 2.48 4.71
Meghalaya 0.01 - 0.47
Mizoram 0.02 - 0.01
Nagaland 0.00 - 0.01
Sikkim 0.04 - 0.25
Source: Ministry of Agriculture, Govt. of India. www.indiastat.com
Area and Production of Orchids in NER-India
5. POST-HARVEST MANAGEMENT IN ORCHID
Orchid flowers require proper post-harvest handling and care to reach
customers in the best possible form
Factors affecting postharvest quality
Flower maturity Temperature
Food supply Water supply
Light Air embolism
Bacterial plugging Physiological plugging
Water quality Ethylene
Growth tropisms Mechanical Damage
Diseases
7. Characteristics of a good quality cut flower of an orchid (De, 2013)
Minimum eight standard blooms per stem
Flowers must be clean, evenly colored and free from physiological
disorders
Stem must have flowers evenly arranged and around the stem.
Two third of the stem should be covered with the flowers.
Flowers must have a firm texture and a luminescent sheen
Stems must be firm when held up
The minimum base diameter of the stem should be of 10mm
8. Grading of Orchis cut flowers are based on;
• Length of flower spike
• Number of opened flowers compared with buds
• Flower size
• Flower arrangement on the spike
• Stem curvature
• Presence of twisted or deformed flowers. (Singh, 2006, Sheela, 2008)
9. Packing of Orchids
Orchids are packed in
corrugated cardboard boxes
which are air-tight, water-
proof and strong enough for
handling. Boxes are lined
with tissue paper or
ordinary paper.
10. Review of literature on Post-harvest Management of Orchids
Ketsa et. al. (1995) for Dendrobium ‘Pompadour’
• AgNO3 + HQS + Glucose maximize water uptake and
vase life.
• AgNO3 effective than STS in controlling microbial growth
and in maximizing bud opening and vase life.
• AgNO3 may act as an antimicrobial agent, and not as an
inhibitor of ethylene synthesis.
11. Topliss (1998). Post harvest of Cymbidium orchids
Grade standards of Cymbidium orchids.
•Standard types (Large flowers)
Minimum number of flowers on an export stem is 8.
An 8 stem box is preferred.
•Intermediate stems
Sold as 10 stem boxes. Stem length (60 cm) > flower number.
•The Graded Box
Mixed color boxes are predominantly sold.
Auction market prefers an 8 stem = 2 white, 2 pink, 2 yellow and
2 green.
12. Standards
•Minimum 8 blooms per stem.
•Flowers - Clean, unblemished and evenly colored.
•Flowers - Evenly arranged along and around the stem.
•Spray must be 2/3 flowers and 1/3 stem.
•Flowers - Firm texture and a luminescent sheen.
•Stems - firm when held up.
•Diameter of the base of the stem = > 10mm.
13. Packing
• Perforated plastic sleeve.
• Tetoron is put in the back of the sleeve as cushion material.
• The box is packed flowers to the ends, stems to the centre.
• Each stem is put in a tube containing water.
• Before the lid is put, the box is sprayed with an aerosol insecticide
(permethrin).
14. Bose et. al. (1999) in the book Orchids of India (revised edition)
reported that:
• Chrysal increased the vase life of miniature Cymbidium.
• 8-HQC + 5% sucrose improved the flower quality and vase life of
Dendrobium, Vanda, Vandopsis, Aranthera, Oncidium and Arachnis
cultivars.
• The vase life of Phalaenopsis hybrid was prolonged by Chrysal VB
and sucrose mixture.
15. Singh (2006) in his book ‘Flower Crops; Cultivation and
Management’, reported that:
• Cattleya blooms develop spots on petals, if they are held at temperature
below 10ºC.
• Pulsing (sucrose (5-6%) along + HQC (500ppm) / benzyl adenine
(75ppm)) for 5-6 hours improves vase life.
• In Dendrobium hybrids, pulsing with sucrose 6% or BA 75ppm
improves vase life of flowers.
16. Saraswathy et. al. (2008) in the book, “Postharvest Management
of Horticultural Crops”, described the postharvest management of
orchids (Cymbidium, Cattleya, Paphiopedilum and Phalaenopsis) as
follows;
Harvesting: 3-4 days after opening
Grading and Bunching: Orchid flowers are graded as #1 or #2.
•Grade #1, are perfect in form and condition.
•Grade #2, have slight flaws such
•12-24 flowers are packed in a carton.
•Each flower is wrapped in shredded wax paper to prevent
mechanical injury.
17. Chemical solutions:
•Cymbidium and Paphiopedilum - 1 month (without)
•Cattleya and Phalaenopsis - 7-10 days (without)
•Pulse treatment with STS – protection against ethylene gas (1 hour
treatment with (25g/l).
Storage:
•Cut flowers can be stored up to 2 weeks at 5-7ºC.
•Cymbidium and Paphiopedilum can be held up to 3 weeks at 1ºC.
•Stored flowers are saleable 3-4 days after removal from storage.
Sheela (2008) in her book “Flowers for trade, Horticulture Science Series –
10”, reported that:
• Small quantity of boric acid, 8-hydroxy quinoline or cobalt chloride
enhances vase life.
18. Sl. No. Orchid genus Stage of Harvest Storage
Vase life
(Days)
1
Arachnis
Aranda
Aranthera
Ascocendra
Epidendrum
50% fully opened
8-10ºC
10-14 days
15
2 Cattleya
3-4 days after full
opening
8-10ºC
10-14 days
14
3 Cymbidium Top buds start opening
1-4ºC
14 days
15-21 days
4 Dendrobium All florets open
5-7ºC
10-14 days
14-21 days
5
Odontoglossum
Oncidium
When most of the flowers
are fully opened
7-10ºC
10-14 days
10-14 days
6 Paphiopedilum Full open
-0.5 - 3ºC
20 days
25-30 days
7 Phalaenopsis Full open
7-10ºC
14 days
14-21 days
Bhattacharjee and De, (2010) in their book Advanced Commercial Floriculture (2nd
Revised and Enlarged Edition), Vol – I, described the post harvest handling of cut flowers of
different orchids as follows:
19. Name of Species/hybrids Vase life (days)
1. Aerides odoratum, Aerides multiflorum, Cymbidium
iridioides, Dendrobium nobile, Renanthera imschootiana
28-56 days
2. Paphiopedilum hirtussimum, P. wardianum 56 days
3. Phaius tankervillae 28-42 days
4. Vanda coerulea, Vanda teres, Zygopetalum intermedium 14-21 days
5. Cymbidium hybrids 20-55 days
6. Dendrobium hybrids 14-21 days
7. Vanda, Mokara hybrids 14-30 days
8. Cattleya hybrids 10- 20 days
9. Phalaenopsis hybrids 25-30 days
10. Aranda 18-28 days
De et. al. (2013) described the post-harvest management of orchids as follows:
The vase life of orchids due to species and varietal differences as illustrated below;
20. Treatments for improving longevity of cut orchid flowers
1. Physical treatments
Pre-cooling:
• Desired temperature before packing:
Cattleya - 7-10ºC
Cymbidium and Paphiopedilum - 0.5 to 4ºC
Dendrobium - 5-7ºC
Vase life of cut flowers as affected by stem cut ends:
•Re-cutting stems under water improves longevity due to elimination
of air from the conducting vessels.
21. 2. Chemical treatments
• Conditioning:
de-mineralized water +germicides and + citric acid
(pH 4.5 to 5.0 but with or without sugar)
•Impregnation:
silver nitrate
nickel chloride
cobalt chloride
(high concentration (1000 ppm-1500 ppm) of for 10-15 minutes -
cymbidium, Phalaenopsis).
25. Packaging
•Dendrobium, hybrid ‘Sonia-17’ - low gauge poly-film of 100 gauge
thickness, cotton dipped in 8-HQS (25ppm) covering the base of the
spike had maximum vase life and flower quality.
Storage of cut flowers
•Temperate orchids - at lower temperature even at 5ºC
•Tropical orchids are stored at 7-10º C.
•Relative humidity - 90-95 %
•Types of cold storage - ‘Wet storage’ and ‘Dry storage’.
•CA storage - gas tight cool chambers equipped
conc.of CO2 higher than 4 % and not below 0.4%
26. Orchid
Vase Life
(in Days)
Orchid
Vase life
(in days)
Cymbidium iridioides 29.50 Cym. Florance 53.66
Zygopetalum intermedium 18.10 Cym. White Beauty 53.05
Phaiustankervillae 24.20 Cym. Sleeping 56.90
Lycaste sp. ‘Nymph’ 9.00 Cym. ‘Valley Flower Powder
Puff’ 52.86
Anonymous, (2014)
1. Cym. 'PCMV' (56 days) – Pulsing (5% sucrose)
2. Cymbidium hybrid - 4% sugar + 200 ppm salicylic acid (Bud opening & Vase life)
3. Cane sugar (2%) found to increase vase life.
Vase life of diff. Orchids
27. MARKETING
In case of flower, trade from NER to metros is as below:
1. Farmers > Commission Agents/Consolidators > Traders in
Sourcing State > Traders in Metros > Retailers > Consumers
2. Farmers > Traders in sourcing state > Traders in Metros >
Retailers > Consumers
3. Grower cum Traders in Sourcing State > Traders in Metros >
Retailers > Consumers. (SFAC, 2012)
28. Marketing of Orchids in Arunachal Pradesh
Orchid Society of Arunachal (OSA) - Nana – Koo Orchid Farm
(Nana – Koo Agro Pvt. Ltd., Ziro)
Guwahati, Delhi, Kolkata
Transported by road to air port at Ziro, North Lakhimpur, Tezpur and
Guwahati
Best quality cut-flowers exported to Europe, USA, Japan, Singapore
and Thailand etc.
29. Particular Amount (₹)
Cost mark-up (₹) per
stem)
Average selling of small farmers 50.00 50.00
Aggregator charges (20%) 10.00 60.00
Transport to pack-house 02.00 62.00
Packaging cost 10.00 72.00
Pack-house/Trader’s margin (40%) 29.00 101.00
Road transportation (Sikkim to
Bagdogra
05.00 106.00
Air transportation (Bagdogra to Delhi) 15.00 121.00
Handling charges in Delhi 10.00
131.00
(Landing price)
Marketing of Orchids in Sikkim
Large farmers and farmers’ group traders, pack-house or to Silliguri Market
Small farmers middlemen/ consolidators and it moves further.
Cost build-up for a single Cymbidium orchid stem is as below:
30. MARGINS
Cymbidium orchid (Sikkim – Delhi)
• landing cost - ₹130-150 per stem
• average price Connaught Place - ₹ 200-250
• retail outlets - price goes beyond ₹ 300
• Thus there is a margin of ₹70–170. (SFAC, 2012)
31. POTENTIAL
Varied and suitable climate
All the important commercial varieties of orchids can be grown
Native wealth suited for novelty product development
Availability of regular air / rail / road links
Proximity to the export markets in South-East Asian Region
Availability of manpower
32. CONSTRAINTS
Non-availability of suitable planting material
Lack of technology for commercial multiplication
Lack of post-harvest handling technology
Lack of incentives
Lack of appropriate Government policies for exporters
Lack of commercial approach in cultivation.
33. CONCLUSION
Bottlenecks have to be addressed
Co-ordination between Govt. & Institutions
Private sector enterprises (have to be encouraged production of
planting materials, marketing, storage etc.)
Research on post harvest management
Proper marketing channels and organized market
Therefore, for a successful orchid industry in the region, an all
round approach in a holistic manner is to be made by all concerned
Institutions, Departments and Individuals.
