New Delhi : With less than a week to go for Valentines’ Day, the surge in demand for roses is likely to quadruple their price, a survey here said Wednesday.
Conducted by the Associated Chamber of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham), the survey interacted with 250 rose cultivators, exporters, wholesale flower dealers and florists in Delhi, Chennai, Mumbai, Pune and Bangalore.
“The rise in demand from suburban towns, apart from major cities, has spurred the prices of roses this Valentine. Price of export quality cut rose is likely to quadruple from its current price of about Rs.15 to over Rs.60 per stem,” said the study.
“Majority of flower growers are anticipating around 30 percent rise in revenue during February, with a turnover of about Rs.10 crore,” it added.
There is also a surge in demand for Indian roses in international markets of Australia, Germany, Greece, Italy and New Zealand, among other countries.
However, many rose cultivators said that crude handling of cut flowers during transportation leads to poor realisation for Indian roses in the international markets.
“The rose growers are experimenting with a new way to increase the shelf life of the flower – India is the largest grower of roses – by growing genetically modified versions,” said the study.
About 40 crore cut roses are grown across India every year. Karnataka alone accounts for about 75 percent, followed by Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Bihar and West Bengal.
IANS
