Off-Season Tulip Bloom in Kashmir

Prelims: Current events of national and international importance | Environment

Why in News?

Recently, for the first time in Kashmir, tulips were induced to bloom in December, around four months before their natural spring season

Tulips – It is a spring-blooming perennial plant.
- They die back after flowering and persist as an underground storage bulb.
Genus – Tulipa
Family – About 100 species of bulbous herbs in the lily family.
Native to – Central Asia and Turkey
Climatic condition – Cultivated in cool, temperate climates with long, cool springs and dry summers.

Breakthrough in Tulip Floriculture

Developed by – Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology (SKUAST), Srinagar, through successful scientific demonstration of bulb programming and forcing techniques.
Key Techniques – Bulb Programming – Controlling temperature, light, planting schedule, and growth stages to time flowering.
Forcing Technique – Manipulating environmental and chemical factors to induce off-season flowering.

Indira Gandhi Memorial Tulip Garden is the largest tulip garden in Asia, spread over 30 acres in Srinagar.

Significance – Tourism – Give a renewed push to Kashmir’s floral tourism, which attracts visitors in the off-season.
Market Demand – Aligns blooms with peak festive demand (Christmas, New Year, Valentine’s Day).
Agriculture – Enables year-round flower production.
Seasonality – Reduces dependence on the spring-only flowering season.
Related Developments – SKUAST started a Centre of Excellence for tulip bulb propagation to reduce dependence on Dutch imports.
Similar off-season chrysanthemum blooms were earlier developed to boost tourism in the grey season.

TULIP

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