High demand, cold wave push flower prices up

Flowers prices have shoot up manifold in local market as severe cold has destroyed almost half of the crop. A flower grower told Business Recorder that the sever cold wave has destroy the crops, owing to which huge gulf between supply and demand has crated.
Flowers' demand is on the rise owing to the ensuing 'Valentine Day' that falls on February 14. A flower wholesale dealer, Rehmat-ullah, said that to cater the demands for flowers on Valentine Day, flowers would have to be imported.
He predicted that with the approach of Valentine Day the prices of flowers would further increase. With the growing demands of flowers for the last couple of years, not only the dying flower industry has been revived but it also providing jobs to thousands of workers associated with the industry.
The are three flower markets in Multan Cantonment and Chowk Ghanta Ghar and some shops on Abdali Road. Allah Bakhsh, a flower seller, said that various shades of roses, tuberoses and Glade were in high demands in these days.
"Gone are the days, when people bought flowers for fragrance, now they only buy them as fashion," a flower seller said. He said that now every thing had been commercialised and farmers were growing imported varieties of flowers having attractive color but no fragrance.
He said such flowers needed less care and time to grow as compared to local varieties of roses. The flower industry has emerged as a rising industry and a flower grower can easily earn Rs 5 500,000 to Rs 600,000 from per acre yield, provided the pests do not attack the crop, said owner of a nursery.
He said that even in the worst-case scenario, the actual investment could be recovered. Flower grower and wholesale dealer Rehmat-ullah said that flowers were being cultivated in Multan ,Sahiwal, Bahawalpur, 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 including Karachi, Islamabad and Lahore markets.