Not an essential item but local Floriculture business shall bloom amidst pandemic

After blighting the global flower trade, covid has opened the eyes of consumers and florists to buying local flowers. As florists are unable to procure supplies from cheaper overseas imports, many importers tend to source their plants locally.

Pandemic may have withered the global flower trade savagely but on the bright side, fewer imports have shifted the focus of florists towards locally grown flowers.

At the onslaught of the second wave of Covid, frenzied Flower traders at once bustling Poo Market of Coimbatore which used to fetch at least 600 tonnes of flowers are worried about losing their livelihoods permanently and thus are looking towards local farms to source the flowers rather than depending on cheap imports rife with uncertainty.

Left with no options many traders are bound to sell them on two-wheelers as the sources of their chief business like temples, weddings, festivals, or even funerals are either shut or have become a low-key affair. They depend on daily customers, who buy flowers for their home pooja and ritualistic purposes.

According to the Agricultural and Processed Foods Exports Development Authority (Apeda), UK is the largest market for Indian roses, fresh-cut rose exports were down by about 48 percent during the April-February 2021 period at ₹23.79 crores compared with ₹46.09 crores in the same period last year.

But the US remained the largest market for Indian floriculture exports, followed by the Netherlands and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The US accounted for about 27 percent of Indian floriculture exports valued at $21.51 million, while the Netherlands accounted for around 19 percent at $14.74 million.

The impact of the pandemic has been unsymmetrical on various planters. In order to establish a long-term relationship between florists and consumers, they need to be educated on what they are buying and who is growing it.

Cover image by Abhishek N. Chinnappa/Reuters