PH flower industry has potential to become a multi-billion-peso sector.
Flower production in the Philippines has the potential to become a multibillion-peso industry but which today continues to fail to fulfill local demand on special occasions.
Jerry Sibal, a New York-based events and floral designer, in a forum in Manila last week said the Philippine horticulture and floriculture sector could spur economic activities, support small businesses, generate more jobs and increase export revenues.
But he said local farmers and horticulturists need to build more greenhouses which require big investments.
He said flower production also requires technologies and agricultural chemicals that are usually imported from other countries.
Sibal said when domestic demand surges particularly on Valentine’s Day, Christmas, All Saint’s Day and school graduation, the country has to import flowers like orchids and chrysanthemums
“If we can bring the right technology here, we can definitely help flower farmers learn more and grow more,” Sibal said.
Sibal said that in the Netherlands, where tulips are the prime export, even small farms have their own greenhouses, which control the temperature and determine the most conducive conditions for the flowers to bloom.
Distribution networks and infrastructure are also established such that the flowers are easily transported from the farm to various hubs.
“If we want to export, we have to have international standards,” Sibal said.
He said there a number of flower farms in the Batangas and Tagaytay that use greenhouses while farms in Benguet province usually attract tourists.
Some farms in Bukidnon in Mindanao export flowers to Japan.
The Philippine flower industry has grown over the past three decades because of high local and foreign demand, combined with the expansion of the tourism sector.
Data show that fresh cut flower exports posted export sales of more than $370,000 annually from 1991 to 2000.
Sibal was in Manila to officially launch the first Philippine International Flower Show to be held on October 15 to 18 at the Philippine International Convention Center to promote awareness on the local flower industry and bring together representatives from various groups and stakeholders–from farmers, agriculturists and florists to end-users like hotels and corporates, government representatives, private investors and technology providers.
