Around 4.5 million flower garlands for Tihar, 60% domestic produce

Laxmi Sapkota, Kathmandu, Oct.22: An estimated 4.5 million flower garlands will be consumed for the upcoming Tihar, the festival of light.

The Floriculture Association Nepal (FAN), an umbrella organization of flower entrepreneurs, has projected that a total of 380,000 garlands of Globosa Amaranthus (makhamali) and 450,000 garlands of chrysanthemum (godawari) will be consumed in this Tihar.

60 per cent of flower garlands are utilized in the Kathmandu Valley while 40 per cent of flower garlands are utilized outside the valley.

President of the FAN Min Bahadur Tamang said that 60 per cent of total demand will be fulfilled by domestic production and the rest 40 per cent will be imported. The demand for flower garlands keeps on increasing by 10 per cent each year.

Even though the flower entrepreneurs meet 90 per cent of the demand for flowers in the country, import becomes necessary during Tihar as demand rises significantly during Tihar.

According to flower entrepreneurs, the rate of a flower garland is between Rs 80 to Rs 100.

More than 200,000 flower garlands are imported in Nepal from countries like England, the United States of America, and Australia.

According to the Floriculture Association Nepal, flower business is being done in 52 districts across the country in an area of 260 hectares. Similarly, there are 1,174 nurseries in operation across the country. 51000 have been employed in a flower business worth an investment of Rs 8,830,000,000.

According to the Department of Custom Office, flower material worth Rs 10,200,000 was exported and flower material worth Rs 277,900,000 was imported in the fiscal year 2080/81.