First Tulip Garden bring smiles to the faces of tourists
India: As the Tulips bloom in the first Tulip garden of Himachal Pradesh (HP) at the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)- Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology (IHBT), Palampur it is expected to attract a record-breaking number of tourists.
In less than two weeks of its opening over 40000 people have already visited the garden which was opened to the general public on February 25, 2023, and is fast becoming a popular tourist destination in the region even attracting people from neighboring state Punjab.
Before the opening of the Tulip garden to the general public, HP’s Chief Minister (CM) Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu along with Education Minister Rohit Thakur and other senior HP government officials paid a visit to CSIR-IHBT to observe the Tulip garden and impressed with the finest and different varieties of bright colored Tulips which were a true delight to the eyes, Sukhu asked the Deputy Commissioner Kangra Dr. Navin Jindal to explore for more suitable locations in the region for establishing such gardens on a large scale to boost tourism.
Tulips, in general, are excellent flowers for the garden and cut flowers for vase decoration. For more than five decades, the tulip has held a prominent place among the world’s top 10 finest cut flowers. Tulip flowers are in high demand on the international market due to their gorgeous blossoms in a variety of hues and shapes. Tulip is a temperate crop and its bulbs require a cold temperature regime for flower initiation.
Director, CSIR-IHBT Dr. Prabodh Kumar Trivedi informed, Tulip bulbs were imported from Holland. And every year, approximately 90 lakh bulbs worth Rs. 35 crores were imported, which was a substantial amount.
He said, the CSIR-IHBT Palampur, on the other hand, had been working on tulip agrotechnology since 2018 and had discovered cold desert locations (2400 m altitude) in Lahaul, HP, and Ladakh ideal for its bulb production. The tulip garden in the institute was established using locally produced bulbs and this year, the garden has 45,000 tulip plants of 12 varieties.
