Circular Economy in Horticulture: Case Studies on Value Creation and Sustainable Development

Abstract The paper discusses how adopting circularity principles in the horticulture sector benefits the plant and supports sustainable development. The study considered seven case studies from the Kolhapur and Sangli regions of Western Maharashtra, India, and attempted to identify the 3R practices adopted by these nurseries. The study calculated the derived monetary benefits to the plant by the reduce and reuse principle of circularity, and monetary benefits were calculated by considering the recycling principle. The study finds that the three R's are applied in all seven nurseries. Under the 3 R principles, water-reducing techniques, economic size of a tray for saplings, reducing the use of plastic, and saving energy through solar panels. These practices are observed under the ‘Reduce’ circularity principle. ‘Reuse’ circularity practices were identified in the area where waste trays were used for heating purposes, seedless sugarcane from sugarcane nurseries was sold to factories/jaggery plants/ farmers, coconut shells were used for plantation and sugarcane leaves were used for heat purposes, etc. Lastly, ‘Recycle’ activities are evident in compost making, such as using banana roots, a litter of rose plants, and sugarcane leaves, as well as replacing breakable drip pipes with new ones. The study concluded that all the nurseries' monetary benefits from recycling activities outweigh the derived benefits, and it reasonably creates monetary value for them either directly or indirectly through the 3R principles of circularity. In the case of Sustainable development, seven of the 17 goals are directly associated with this empirical study on the horticulture sector.