FORUM (Spotlight Weekly)

Floriculture Development In Nepal

By Dr. Dibya Deo Bhatt

Floriculture is a neat industry. It is also a high value added product whose market is growing. In order to be a successful floriculturist, one should have trained and highly motivated manpower and equipment; above all, a new entrant should be able to correctly assess the requirements for becoming a successful floriculturist. Then comes the question of selecting suitable flowers that would grow in the locality. Roses are always popular, as are gladiolus, carnation, lily, chrysanthemum, aster, dahlia, orchids etc.

In the Nepalese climate, European summer flowers can be grown successfully, which would be profitable also. Many of the flowering plant species that now adorn gardens in Europe remain neglected in Nepal. Among these are poppy, primula, lilies, gentian, potentilla, rhododendrons, Cypripedium, Aerides, Gastrochilus and orchids. Maintenance of green house, handling equipment, and post-harvest treatment is necessary. Some European florists provide training also and these could be availed. A training program would cost about US$ 1,000, which would be good investment for a large company. Trained manpower and other facilities are lacking in the country. However, entrepreneurs have started cultivating flowers for which there is great demand locally, for example, flowers like carnation, roses and chrysanthemum, which constitute 60 percent of the trade.

Nepal being the home of some 350 species of orchids which belong to 90 genera, there is a high export potential for orchids. Some of the orchids are: Cymbidium, Dendrobium, Calanthe, Coelogyne, Vanda, Cypripedium, Phajus, Paphiopedilum, Bulbophyllum etc.

The rich plant life of Nepal and existence of different bio-climatic zones allows growth of different flowering species, many of these being found in the Alpine zones. Thus far, about 6000 species of flowering plants have been catalogued by the British Museum (Natural History). There is an urgent need to preserve this rich biodiversity but unfortunately many plants because of over exploitation, including those which have been declared as endangered by the CITES and listed as protected are smuggled out of the country. This is especially the case of those which have high medicinal value. There is thus an urgent need to conserve such species and use new technologies (biotechnology) for their propagation. A conifer (Yew, Taxus baccata) which is found in East Nepal has been subjected to intense destruction as its leaves yield a drug which has been found highly useful in the treatment of certain types of cancer.

Hence, there is all the more need to make available plants raised by tissue culture method. The Plant Research Division at Godavari has been successful in raising many plants, herbaceous as well as woody, in the laboratory through tissue culture. There is a compelling need to intensify this work.

In order to develop floriculture in Nepal, the government has to play an active role, especially through providing subsidies for the establishment of green houses, controlled temperature facilities at the airports, an efficient plant quarantine service and encouraging more research and development in this field. The role of the cooperative societies in promoting floriculture is considerable; in countries such as the Netherlands and Israel, which lead in exporting seeds, bulbs and other planting flowering materials, the government provides all facilities for this.

Training facilities should be created for training people in this field. At present nearly 70 percent of the need for cut flowers is being fulfilled through import from India; the flowers which are in great demand, such as rose and carnation are not available locally in required quantity. At the same time most of the nurseries in the Kathmandu Valley import nursery plants from India without any control over its quality, especially in regard to diseases. An open border makes the task of quarantine difficult but it is one which has not received enough attention thus far.

Nothing is more important for the development of floriculture in Nepal than develop proper facilities, such as green houses, land, transportation, essentially air freight, research and development (biotechnology) and regulatory laws. There is a growing demand all over the world for flowers. The world market for cut flowers, bulbs and seeds is over $35 billion, to which the Indian market contributes $60 million. The demand for cut flowers, bulbs, seeds and live plant material is mostly in Europe, North America, Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore. In case of Nepal, internal production meets only 40 percent of the market demand. Some effort is now being made to introduce floriculture as crop substitute. There are 20 to 25 nurseries which are involved in this business. One of the complaints which the nurserymen have is about the unavailability of storage facility at the Tribhuvan International Airport and cargo space.

There is also shortage of trained manpower in this field. This need can be fulfilled by the Royal Botanical Garden at Godavari which would give practical training in gardening, including garden lay-out, cultivation of plants and other horticultural matters.

The Botanical Gardens have an important role to play in the development of plant industry. Besides undertaking research on plants suitable for garden, they should be able to fulfill the needs for plants, seeds and other material. Interest in flowers, both for home gardens and commercial purposes is now growing and the national Garden should be able to fulfil the needs of the growers, as well as home gardeners.