World trade of flowers and ornamentals has touched 50 billion dollars while their export is around 10 billion dollars excluding essential oils. The share of cut flowers in the export value is 50 percent while 41 percent is claimed by plants and cut foliage and 9 percent by bulb.
Among top nine exporting cut flower countries 58 percent share goes to the Netherlands while Colombia Ecuador, Kenya and Thai-Land all combined together bag only 24 percent of the export value.
This was stated by the UAF Vice Chancellor Professor Dr Iqrar Ahmad Khan while addressing the participants of one-day workshop on "Floriculture and Landscape Management" organise by Institute of Horticultural Sciences (IHS)in collaboration with Higher Education Commission (HEC) Islamabad here on Saturday.
He maintained that having great potential and diversified climatic conditions Pakistan is not exploiting its potential to achieve share in International export. Dr Iqrar Ahmad Khan maintained that the importing countries like UK, Germany, USA, are enjoying major share in Worldwide Floriculture imports. He added that the trade in ornamental is rising by 10 percent annually. He expressed his concern over lowest productivity of cut flowers in Pakistan and said that the export of cut flowers during the year 2000-01 it amounted to 0.3 million dollars while the import stood at 0.115 million dollars during the Year 2001-02. He added that the export of cut flowers in Pakistan is 2.5 times more than their imports.
Dr Iqrar Khan urged the Scientists to transfer new technologies at their doorstep of poor farmers in order to explore new fields of non-traditional crop productivity. Professor Dr Iftikhar Ahmad Khan, Dean Faculty of Agriculture said that floriculture and landscaping has been converted into an industry at International level. He added that floriculture industry does not create any atmosphere threat but it is a environment friendly as well.
Professor Dr M Aslam Pervez, Director, IHS in his keynote address said that it is encouraging sign that we have entered in to the World export market of cut flowers although the remittance is quite nominal. He maintained that 11 percent share of Columbia in the Global cut flower business is a beacon for us as they are not ahead of us in human resource development. What seems to be the driving force behind the ornamental business in Columbia is identification of comparative advantage and then targeting the selected crop.
Professor Dr Muhammad Aslam Khan, Project Director IHS finally thanked the participants and the guests from all around the country. Dr Atif Riaz is conducted the ceremony.