Answer:
Prior to 1990, there were a number of nurseries within the valley as well as a few outside that cultivated flowers, but the trend then was more towards producing potted plants, seeds, bulbs and suchlike. There was no large market for cut flowers of the variety available now, in part because there was very little demand due to a lack of market exposure to cut flowers. People in Kathmandu just did not use them on a regular basis. According to nursery owners, there was at that time only a small demand amongst the expatriate community and amongst the Indian community. On November 15 1992 however, the Floriculture Association of Nepal or FAN was formed, and this marked the beginning of the floriculture industry in Nepal.
FAN was formed by 11 nursery owners with the objective of promoting and enhancing the floriculture industry and the emergence of flowers in the Katmandu market can in fact be attributed to the training in flower arrangement that FAN conducted in 1993. Following this training, they initiated the opening of a wholesale market and the support FAN gave to the organization 'Women in Floriculture' project enabled several entrepreneurs to set up flower retail outlets. This supply driven demand resulted in flowers being made available in the market and the market responded by taking up this supply. Business has since improved as demonstrated by the change in demand from around 100 rose stems a day in 1992 to 3000 stems in 2003 and from 100 gladiolus stems in 1992 to 6000 in 2003. Figures from FAN put the total sale of cut flowers at 10 million in 1992, which went up to 70.2 million in 2003.
The domestic market for cut flowers is in fact increasing according to Suresh Bhakta Shrestha of Standard Nursery in Bansbari. He says that in 1993 150 thousand Nepali Rupees was the total turnover for all the shops that sold flowers in Kathmandu. This figure is now around 80 to a 100 thousand Rupees per month per shop! Latest figures also suggest that there are there are currently around 300 nurseries and 40 retail shops within the Kathmandu valley. This information suggests that floriculture has grown very rapidly and that the flower culture here continues to grow.
Explanation:
