KATHMANDU, Oct 19: The 13th Godavari Flower Expo kicked off Friday at Jawalakhel Football Ground in Lalitpur. The four-day exhibition is organized by Floriculture Association Nepal (FAN) targeting Tihar, the second biggest festival of Nepal.
The slogan for this year's expo is “Ropera Phool Godavari, Sajau Ghar Aagan Waripari” (Plant Chrysanthemum, decorate your houses, gardens and surroundings). The motive of Godavari Flower Exhibition is to promote floriculture business and increase the production of flowers in Nepal by creating competitive environment among the flower entrepreneurs.
The event was inaugurated by Chakrapani Khanal, Minister for Agriculture and Livestock Development. “There is good business in the sector of floriculture. But it is not being developed according to our expectation. We need to increase investment and come up with appropriate plans to promote this sector,” he said, “For promotion of floriculture, we need concerned bodies in all seven provinces.”
Godavari Flower Expo 2018 kicks off
There are 44 business stalls, four informative stalls, and a flower competition stall. The stalls also showcase 16 new species of Godavari plant which were brought from different countries as mother plants. Different types of flower with seasonal flowers like Sayapatri (Marigold) and Makhamali (Gomphrena globosa) are also available in the stalls.
At a competition held among nurseries, Samjhana Nursery secured first position, TPR Miteri Nursery secured second, and TTR Banglamukhi Nursery came third. In miniature category Ajima Nursery and in cut-flower category, Srijana Cut Flower Nursery was awarded. Samjhana Nursery has been awarded in four different categories.
The production of flower is increasing in Nepal and 88% of the local demand is met by local production. This year for Tihar Nepal will import 200,000 flower garlands from other countries. According to local flower entrepreneurs, the production of flowers is increasing in Nepal due to use of different modern technologies in farming, and most of the people are interested in doing floriculture business due to easy return of investment.
According to Min Bahadur Tamang, senior vice-president of FAN, the association has forwarded different plans for promoting floriculture business but due to lack of budget those plans cannot be continued.
Commercial farming of Laligurans and opening of flower industries in Raithan are in limbo.
The consumption of flowers is highest during the Tihar festivals. Flower is a major ingredient for Tihar. People use flower garlands to decorate their houses during the festivals and also use for different rituals like puja, and to offering deities in temples.
