Langrian, September 21: The vision of Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) faculty and the determination of its alumnus Avtar Singh Dhindsa have placed Langrian village in Amargarh on the floriculture map of India. Starting with just 3.5 acres four decades ago, Dhindsa today leads Beauscape Farm, a venture that exports flowers and seeds across continents, including the US, Europe, Canada, Japan and Australia.
After completing his postgraduate degree in landscaping and floriculture in 1979, Dhindsa began by offering consultancy services to urban residents looking to beautify their surroundings. In 1985, he established Beauscape Farm on the outskirts of Langrian, cultivating ornamental flowering plants on 3.5 acres. Over the years, his venture expanded to include large-scale seed production.
Today, the enterprise produces vegetable seeds on 3,000 acres and flower seeds on 1,500 acres for companies in Japan, Korea, Taiwan and several European countries. The programme has also spread to other states, including Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh.
More than 3,000 rural workers are directly associated with the project, and during the peak vegetable seed season, between 10,000 and 15,000 labourers—predominantly women—find employment. “I, along with my family, feel indebted to the Almighty that the venture has fetched laurels to my native village, besides strengthening our economic position,” Dhindsa said, adding that many workers had expressed gratitude for the improvement in their standard of living.
His farms have also become an attraction for nature lovers, ecologists, actors and political leaders. The multicoloured flower beds gained wider fame when Yash Chopra’s film Veer Zara, starring Shah Rukh Khan, was shot at his farm. “We never intended to earn income by letting organisers of functions play with nature’s creations nurtured by human hands,” Dhindsa noted.
Over the years, Dhindsa has been recognised with several awards, including the Punjab State Award (1994), National Award (1995), Ludhiana Management Association’s Innovative Entrepreneur Award (1998), Nishan-e-Khalsa Award (1999), Best Farmer Award by PAU (2001), and another Punjab State Award on the 550th Parkash Utsav of Guru Nanak Dev.
Reflecting on the journey, Dhindsa said floriculture could have expanded further if more advanced technology had been made available to labourers. He also urged unemployed youth to consider floriculture as a career. “By acquiring organised knowledge and availing government subsidies linked to loans, they too can reach the peak in this profession,” he said.
