Can Orchid Industry Blossom in North-East India?

Orchids are adorable. They are, no doubt, the most beautiful flowers on earth having myriad forms, shapes, sizes, colours, fragrances and habits. With an accepted 29,199 species (Govaerts et al., 2017) the angiospermic family ‘Orchidaceae’ is widely distributed from Equator to Arctic Circle and from lowland areas to almost up to snowline regions. The number of species keeps on increasing with new discoveries every year. Orchids are capable of growing in nearly every environment of the earth’s surface and on a variety of surface ranging from soil or rock; perching on tree trunks; and even on dead organic matter (saprophytes). They may or may not have chlorophyll, while some even do not have leaves.