ISLAMABAD: Prices of flowers have gone
up as the severe cold wave has destroyed half of their crop,
creating huge gap between demand and supply, a flower grower
and wholesale dealer, Haji Saleem, told Daily Times on Friday.
He said that in order to meet people’s demand on Valentine’s
Day (February 14), the flowers would have to be imported.
He predicted further increase in their prices. The increasing
demand of flowers in the country has not only revived the
dying flower industry, but also provided jobs to thousands
of workers associated with the industry. Three flower markets
of the capital, one in Sector F-6 having 11 shops, second
in Sector F-7 having 12 shops and third in Sector F-10 having
seven shops, are meeting the demand of the capital city
residents.
Umar, a flower stallholder, said that various shades of
roses, tuberoses and Glade were in high demand. “Gone
are the days, when people bought flowers for fragrance,
now they only buy them as fashion,” a flower-seller
of F-6 market said. He said that now every thing had been
commercialised and farmers were growing imported varieties
of flowers having attractive colour but no fragrance. He
said such flowers needed less care and time to grow as compared
to local varieties of roses.
Healing power: According to researchers, flowers not only
express gentle emotions, but their magical fragrance carry
such a healing power that relaxes fatigued body and depressed
mind, a gift of modern day lifestyle.
The flower industry has emerged as a profit generating industry
and a flower grower can easily earn Rs 500,000 to Rs 600,000
from per acre yield, provided the pests do not attack the
crop, said owner of a nursery near Peshawar Mor. He said
that even in the worst-case scenario, the actual investment
could be recovered. Flower grower and wholesale dealer Haji
Saleem said that flowers were being cultivated in Kasur
district, due to its moderate climate. However, some farmers
were also growing flowers in other parts of the Punjab and
some areas of Azad Kashmir, where climate is less hot, he
said.
The main flower market is in Pattoki, Kasur district and
flowers from all over the country are brought there and
then sent to various parts of the country, he said, adding
that around 100,000 flowers were sent to Karachi only, whereas
Islamabad and Lahore markets consume more than 100,000 flowers
per day, Saleem added. “One flower stem costs less
than a rupee to a grower and the seller buys it for Rs1.50
to Rs2, while in summer its rate decreases to 25 paisas,”
said Saleem, adding that a stem of rose was being sold in
the capital’s markets for Rs10 to Rs15. He said that
Glade was being traded at Rs14-Rs15 per stem at wholesale
market, whereas the retailers of Islamabad were selling
it for Rs 30 to Rs 50.
Different colours: For hundreds of years, people have been
relying upon flowers to express such feelings that cannot
be put into words. Different colours of flowers express
different emotions. Red rose expresses deep passion, a symbol
of love, romance beauty and perfection, closely tied to
the goddess of love in Greek and Roman mythology. Pink rose
is a symbol of grace and elegance and conveys appreciation
as well as joyfulness. Orange roses are the embodiment of
desire and enthusiasm. The unique beauty of lavender rose
is a perfect symbol of enchantment. It is traditionally
used to express feelings of love at first sight.
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