Gurwinder Singh Sohi grew up around wheat fields in Punjab. In 2008, he decided to harness the region’s favourable climate for the benefit of the farmers by switching from wheat farming to floriculture (flowers). This decision was a turning point in the life of the man from Nanowal, which is a village in Punjab. Today, he grows over 40 varieties of exotic flowers on a 22-acre farmland, doubling his family’s income.
His family had cultivated wheat and rice for generation. He noticed that despite the hard work that farmers put into the fields, day in and day out, they struggle to make a decent income. In contrast, he found that floriculture can yield two or three times the income compared to traditional wheat farming. Also due to Punjab’s favourable climate for growing crops, the soil could also be used to grow flowers. That’s why he chose flowers over wheat, becoming the first farmer in the district of Fatehgarh Sahib to do so.
Today, he grows 40 varieties of exotic flowers - including California poppy, gladiolus, calendula, alyssum, chrysanthemum, daisy, delphinium, lupin and salvia- on 22 acres of land in his village Nanowal. He produces around 10 tonnes of flowers in a five-month season, earning an approximate income of Rs 1 lakh per acre.
Most of his cousins, including his sister, moved to countries like the US and Canada in search of jobs, Gurwinder stayed true to his roots and his love for his village bloomed. He didn’t have any aspirations to settle for a corporate job, studying only upto Class 12. After passing in 1993, he did several odd jobs from being a salesperson, a tea trader, and a mushroom and poultry farmer to selling sweets and even customising swanky jeeps. But he continue any of these professions as he couldn’t find the enthusiasm. But in 2008, he decided to undertake flower farming, and the rest was history.
He found out from a friend that the Punjab Horticulture Department was offering subsidised seeds of Holland gladiolus flowers. He obtained 10,000 bulbs for free, but he needed land to grow the crop, so he asked his father for help. His father was upset because he thought that Gurwinder was not serious about any work as he was often quitting jobs. Nevertheless, he allowed him to experiment on two kanals (about 0.25 acres) of land. So Gurwinder planted the bulbs, and after 90 days, they started to bloom. He sold a batch in the local markets and earned around Rs 3 per spike.
The Holland gladiolus flowers that he cultivated are one of the most commonly used ornamental flowers across the world. Inspired by his successful experiment and potential returns, he expanded the area under flower cultivation to one acre the following year. Subsequently, he introduced other varieties of flowers from countries like Europe and Israel, gradually expanding to about 22 acres of land.
Although he found happiness in the venture, it came with its own challenges. Planting the Gladiolus bulbs is a slow and labour-intensive process, as they resemble onions which prompted them to be planted by hand, with the pointy end facing upwards. To battle the inconvenience he came up with a machine for this purpose, for which he also received a grant of Rs 12 lakh from Punjab Agriculture University. His machine was successful in its venture, prompting other farmers to enquire about them. He has built a machine for planting, digging and grading purposes as well.
So far, he has sold eight machines — priced between Rs 60,000 and Rs 1.6 lakh — to farmers in Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand, and Himachal. Apart from this, he has also trained more than 2,000 farmers from across the country — including Leh, Himachal, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan — to grow exotic flowers for free.
Gurwinder recieved national recognition for his work in 2019, and more recently about 2 months ago, when he was recognised at the state level by none other than Punjab’s Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann. He is incredibly proud of what he has achieved, and says that people associate his name to his village. It is a source of immense pride for him.