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Kandung is a forest village under Sevoke Range of Kurseong Forest Division, Hill Circle, Darjeeling District. The village is straddled in the lap of great Himalayas with the mighty Teesta River flowing nearby. It is located at a distance of 32 km from Siliguri. The forest village is surrounded by Kandung and Setikhola Reserve Forest blocks of Sevoke Range and was in existence since 1930's. The lion's share of the village population depends on forests and agrarian system for their livelihood.

The Kandung Floriculture and Agro Producer Company Limited was established on 02nd October 2021 under the guidance and patronage of Kurseong Forest Division of Hill Circle and registered under Companies Act 2013. It was formed with the broad objective of empowering the rural population of Kandung Forest Village through agriculture-based livelihood enhancement activities. The idea of utilizing plants to decorate houses with outside garden is an age-old tradition and trend in India. Now, demand for indoor plants is also surging due to rapidly increasing number of high-rise buildings and skyscrapers. India's succulent plant market is anticipated to grow with an impressive CAGR in the forecast period, FY 2023- FY 2027. Kandung is a potential pocket of the country to produce quality floricultural planting materials to meet the current market demand.

The Farmer Producer Company was formed with the expectation to reduce the overdependence of forest villagers on middle men for sale of their produce which comprises of flowering plants, cactus, succulents and miscellaneous flora. It is envisaged that the villagers will sell their produce directly to the end user through the company thereby enhancing their profit margin. A business plan was prepared with the assistance of forest department for which loan amount of 23 lakhs was sanctioned by a reputed financial institution. A new 'Trade Centre' has been opened at Kandung Forest Village by the company for carrying out offline trade and to facilitate packaging and delivery of plant specimens for online orders. A web portal, facebook business page, instagram business page and youtube channel has also been created to facilitate effective marketing of the produce.

A villagers owned organized company with a vision on regularization of market chain and optimization of marketing efficiency through the establishment of a modernized trading centre will bring in a sea of opportunities to meet the financial requirements of Kandung population and realize a sustainable economy for Kandung Forest Village. In addition, all the beneficiaries and leaders of the company possess significant knowledge, aptitude and skills for taking up nursery production which is a specialized activity. It's location is also agroclimatically suitable for cultivation/multiplication of identified plant species. The beneficiaries possess adequate land suitable for nursery production activity with assured irrigation facilities. Improved methods of propagation, plant growing structures like poly house, and shade net facilities will be utilized to improve success rate and production of betterquality planting material in the system. Presently the company managed Farmer Interest Groups (FIGs) are enthusiastically engaging in floricultural activities.