Pune: Bringing smiles on the faces of cultivators, for the first time, Pune District Flower Growers Association (FGA) will export 1.5 crore of roses to the European markets. Thanks to the favourable weather conditions which yield a far better yield this year.
“Although, the export will fetch us more dollars for us, for the domestic market, the prices of roses will soar,” said Shivaji Bhegde, President, FGA. There has been an increase in the demand from foreign markets to roses owing to Valentine’s Day just round the corner.
“Generally, every year, we export one crore roses, but this year, it has gone up as favourable conditions helped in more cultivation of the roses. Besides that there was less disease attack on yield,” Bhegde added.
“This year ‘top secret’, a variety of rose, is ruling both the markets,” he said. The rose cultivation for Valentine’s Day starts before August 15 while the export begins from Republic Day onwards and ends by February 8 to 9. The rest will be sold in the domestic market.
“The rate of roses per stem too will see a rise. If it was sold for Rs 7 or 8 to the retailers, this year it will be sold at Rs 9 or 10,” Bhegde said.
Bhegde further said, “There are more than 600 cultivators and poly houses of roses in Pune district. India’s annual floriculture export is more than Rs 300 crore, of which fresh cut flowers account for 30 per cent of the exports. The sale during this season is around 30 per cent of the total annual sale of fresh cut flowers. As the cultivation has gone up this year, the association has increased their rates from Rs 10 to 14 per stem for export in foreign markets.” He further explained that Pune district accounts for 70 per cent of floriculture business while the rest is cultivated in Kolhapur, Nashik and Bengaluru. The domestic market includes places like Maharashtra, Bhopal, Indore, Raipur and Chandigarh and several other cities in the country.
“We export roses to individual retailers abroad. From 2010, the association decided to not have a mediator between the dealer and the exporter in both domestic and foreign markets, as our profits saw a decreasing graph. Now, the association decides the prices every year depending on the climatic condition and rose cultivation,” Bhegde added.
