‘A lot of people have become health conscious in last 10 years. Even those who stay in flats are finding space to at least grow indoor plants,” says Khalid Ahmed, who is organising Hyderabad Horticulture and Agriculture Show in the city that opened for public on Wednesday.
“Lands in cities have become expensive. Therefore, most of the nurseries are moving to places away from the city. This exhibition is an initiative to bring nurseries close to public,” he informs.
About 44 participants from all over the country – Bangalore, Pune, Aurangabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, Bangalore, Darjeeling, Hyderabad – are participating in the five-day exhibition. They brought together plants of various varieties like indoor, outdoor, semi-shade and cactus.
This is the first time Khalid Ahmed is organising this horticulture show. “While the exhibition was first organised by the Government, they haven’t since 2011. I, as a nursery owner understood the problem other regular participants might be facing. Therefore, I took an initiative to organise this,” Khalid explains.
It is not only plants, but gardening tools traders, pots and artificial flower vendors, and organic food grain vendors like Terra Greens who also found their way to the expo.
Sumit Dutta, marketing manager of Terra Greens says “Though we have been receiving decent response, these kind of exhibitions help us grow.”
Plants and gardening tools go hand in hand. Providing gardening enthusiasts with innovative tools for gardening is PB Shah and Company that has been in the business for the past 50 years. “We have been participating in this expo for 20 years now. But we have seen drastic change in the number of people who buy gardening equipment. It has increased recently. Awareness about the importance of living in a healthy environment is making people take gardening seriously,” says Pranav H Shah, owner of the company.
Pranav says that gardening these days has become simpler with the wide variety of do-it-yourself tools available. “Latest in the market are mini power weeders and brush cutters,” he tells us. For those who dislike cactus, Konark, a nursery from Hyderabad has brought succulents – the type that don’t have thorns and can grow indoors comfortably. “They have to be watered once in three days. They serve as a good element for interior decoration. People who live in flats prefer to have these as they have limited or no space outside their home,” says Muzammil Ahmed, owner of Konark Promoting vertical gardening is Sanjay Chhajed who claims to offer a wide variety of plants online in India. At Sanjay Nursery, which he runs, they have money plants, reep, duronto, pineapple, song of India and spanish moss in store for vertical gardening. They also have 40 indoor, 18 outdoor plants and 20 semi-shade plants.
The exhibition is being held at Peoples Plaza and will go on till October 11.