How to start marigold (genda) farming in Maharashtra and is it profitable?

Marigold is one of the easiest and most reliable flower crops to start with in Maharashtra. Use hybrid African marigold types such as the orange and yellow Tenax or Calcutta types, raise healthy seedlings in a nursery for about 25 to 30 days, then transplant at roughly 45 by 30 cm spacing, about 18,000 to 22,000 plants per acre. It flowers in around 60 to 75 days and keeps yielding for two to three months. Time your crop so peak flowering falls near Dussehra, Diwali or Ganpati when loose flower rates jump. Yield is commonly 6 to 10 tonnes per acre across the season. Profit varies hugely with rate, but in a good festival window many growers net a healthy margin on a per acre cost of roughly 40,000 to 70,000 rupees. Confirm local market rates and demand before planting, and stagger sowings so you are not all harvesting at once.