Visakhapatnam: Dooly plants at home or office space bother you? If so, respite is in the offing as they can now be exchanged for new ones. Heard of exchange offers for old clothes, furniture, silk sarees, utensils or electronic gadgets, but probably, this is the first time a nursery operator has come with a 'plants for exchange' offer. If the barter system existed eons back, it is the same concept that made Mohammad Fasi Ur Rahaman to work on a similar idea dedicated to plants. It is natural for indoor plants, flowering or fruit-bearing plants to wear out over a period of time or as they mature over the years.

Through the endeavour initiated a few months back, Rahaman exchanges such dull-looking plants for fresh saplings. In his nursery zone located at Gopalapatnam Rythu Bazaar, busier mornings are witnessed as people either come to get their old plants exchanged for new saplings or bring home new ones for a reasonable price.

Based on the condition and health of the plant exchanged, Rahaman offers a new sapling. Those who wish to go for a costlier plant have to pay an extra amount for it. “The main objective to set up the ‘plants for exchange’ corner is to encourage the younger generation to consider gardening as a serious hobby and not to get disheartened when plants they nurture become dull or do not appear as healthier as they expected to be,” he reasons.

What happens to the plants that get into the nursery zone through the exchange offer? “Revival efforts are taken to ensure that such plants spring back to life with improved soil and other techniques followed. After assessing their health for a while, they will be readied for a resale at a very minimal cost,” Rahaman shares with The Hans India. Currently, the nursery at Gopalapatnam houses 85 varieties of plants. And some of them are rare flowering saplings. Those who frequent the Rythu Bazaar for their daily vegetable needs find the corner quite inviting as they revisit it to get their old plants exchanged for fresh ones.