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| Floriculture : International Markets
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| - By Dr. Sangita Ladha, Former Director - Horticulture Training Center and Dr. Surya Gunjal, Director, School of Agril. Sciences , YCMOU, Nasik |
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 "Australia remains an unexplored market for the fast growing Indian floriculture trade and industry. Its demand pattern, high production costs and the general dislike on the part of its youth to take up farming activities can prove a blessing for the Indian floriculture industry to push up the sales to Australia, where the demand for flowers is growing rapidly, says M B Naqvi after a visit to Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.
"Packaging is very important to get a good price . . . We can grow best quality flowers but if we don't know modern and safe way to deliver them anywhere, the whole effort goes waste. We should be very careful about packaging," emphasised Ali Bhai."
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It is observed that India's exports of cut flowers is around 0.07 % of total world value exports to US ( US $ 634 million) while that to European Union(EU) is 0.42% of world exports to the EU (€ 3.36 billion) in 2004. Rose imports in the EU account to 28 % of the total fresh cut flower imports and have the largest share. In view of the higher demand, consumption and premium prices with lower weight and thereby affordable freight, the exports of roses has higher prospects and is viable for developing countries like India.
World Market Size of Cut flowers and Plants
It is said that Europe is a Trend Setter in Cut flowers, the reason being the market size. The market size could be analyzed by the per capita consumption of Cut flowers in some of the main countries from different continents as consumption is directly related with the demand and thereby the market.
Considering the population of each of the country, the market value of Cut flower consumption is as presented below : countries is as shown.
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 Worldwide Area under Floriculture : In terms of total area in production, Asia -Pacific with an area of 2,44,263 ha accounts for nearly 60% of the total world area which is estimated to be nearly 4,00,000 hectares.China and India have large total areas under flower cultivation but only a small percentage of the area is under protected cultivation as the production is mainly for the domestic markets with large area under open field flower cultivation rather than under protected cultivation From Table 2 below, it is observed that in terms of area under total flower production with respect to the world area, India has 26.62 % of area but under protected cultivation the area is hardly measurable. World Cut flower Import and Export Scenario
(1) Top Ten Importing Countries : As per the trade analysis on imports as per table 3 below, the combined total imports of Cut flowers by the European Union member countries account to nearly 70 % of world imports. The other prominent countries are USA, Japan and Switzerland. This trend in imports is inline with the consumption pattern wherein the largest consumer is again Europe followed by USA and Japan.
(2) Market for Developing Countries (DC) in Europe :
The Table 4 below reflects the market share of India in comparison with that of other DC's in the EU which is the world's leading importer of flowers and foliage, with imports amounting to € 3.3 billion in 2005. |
 Inference from Table-4 :
Fresh Cut flowers imports account to nearly 94.6 % of the total imports clearly dominating the trade.
In the fresh cut flower sector , worldwide roses dominate the market. The share of developing countries is 36 % amounting to € 328 millions. India's share is just 0.4 % in this trade based on the average values compiled for last 3- 4 years.
Prepared (Dry) cut-flowers is only 2.96 % and that of Foliage is only 2.44 % of total imports of cut flowers and foliage. Hence though India is a topmost supplier of Dry flowers , dry and fresh foliage to Europe, the market share of all these three products put together is only 5.4 % as seen above with India hardly figuring anywhere in fresh cut flowers.
Foliage : Important species imported are: Leatherleaf ferns (Arachniodes adiantiformis), Asparagus, Eucalyptus, Dracaena, Ruscus, Aspidistra and Monstera.
(3) The Main Importing countries in the EU of Cut-flowers and foliage : 
Referring to Table below, the average values of imports of Cut flowers and foliage in the EU between 2002 and 2004, imports were € 3268 millions with the top most importing countries being UK and Germany each with a share of 25.5 % followed by The Netherlands ( 13.76 %) and France (13.08 %). The imports of fresh cut flowers in EU has been dominated by Roses which emerges as the single largest fresh cut flower to be traded in the EU market and main importing countries are also shown in table above.
(4) Recent Trends in sales of top ten fresh Cut Flowers :
The sales of individual cut flowers are crucial for voluminous production and exports so as to achieve economies of scale. In a nutshell, if the product is in demand, it is largely sold and needs to be targeted for mass production for exports.. Referring to table 06 below , sales of Roses is 30 % of total flower sales even in Netherlands Auctions.
(5) Prospects for the Developing Countries (DC) in The Netherlands markets :
The table -7 below is on the imports of Cut flowers and foliage in The Netherlands as it has the largest auction centers in the world.. The Netherlands auction figures from the above table confirm that Roses emerge as a major cut flowers being imported from the Developing Countries(DC) in particular. This trend is especially important as The Netherlands is the top most exporter of fresh cut flowers and foliages in the world. The analysis of the suppliers of Cut Flowers and foliage indicate that India has established itself the topmost supplier of dry flowers and have a sizeable share of 24 % in case of foliage's. In case of Fresh cut flowers and especially Roses the share of developing countries is 96 % out of which Kenya alone is around 60 per cent. Referring to Table 6 and 7, it is noted that in 2005 The Netherlands imported Cut flowers and foliage worth 449.67 euro million out of which the share of imports from DC was 74.1 %
(6) Overall analysis of status of India in the Imports of Cut flowers and foliage in the European Union and The Netherlands :
The Fresh Cut Flowers imported in some of the leading EU member countries and India's standing in supplies of fresh cut flowers to these countries is reflected in Table 8 below: India's share in the leading importing countries like Germany and UK is negligible. Similarly though 96 % of roses in The Netherlands are supplied by developing countries, India which exports, mainly roses has a share of just 0.36 % in The Netherlands despite the potential. The reason for the low percent share of India is attributed mainly to the high handling charges in the auction and the discriminatory high import duty in the European Union levied on Indian flowers .
(7) Imports of Fresh Cut flowers in Japan :
The imports of fresh cut flowers in Japan is very encouraging as India is one of the topmost supplier to Japan with India's share increasing from 35.7 % in 2000 to 46.3 % 2005 with supplies from Netherlands ( 4.75 %). According to the EU market survey done by CBI, small-leafed standardised foliage (low volume/value ratio) such as Tops of Dracaena Marginata, Sanderiana, etc.,Areca, Calathea and small Pandanus are highly in demand. This demand for different foliage varieties is still increasing in Europe for use in cheap bouquets. Furthermore, European importers do not have any reticence about using tropical foliage and hence a good opportunity exists to the developing countries in supplying these products during periods when these products are scarce on the market. In order to compete, developing country exporters must be able to supply products of consistent quality on a regular basis.
(7) World Cut Flower Export Markets :
Referring to table 11 below on the exports, The Netherlands with nearly 64 % exports is the world's leading exporter and also re-exports a large proportion of its imported cut flowers (70 % of all auctioned imports) and plays a pivotal role in the world cut flower trade. Among the Asian countries, Thailand with sole cut-flower product Orchids still accounts for 1 % and is listed in one of the Top ten cut-flower exporting country.
(8) India's position in Exports of Floriculture products to the EU in 2004 :
Referring to Table 12 below in the year 2004, India's floriculture exports with € 35.55 million has been ranked 20th in the world exporting countries to the European Union. The share of India's total floriculture exports is only 0.42 % in the world exports to the EU. In cut flowers, it is observed that the value of Indian exports were USD 0.45 millions and that of foliage was USD 7.28 millions. India's share is 0.07 % in the total cut flowers imports in the country and in total floriculture products, India ranks 15th with 0.79 % share. In a nutshell the prospects and forecasts of the trade: The above figures on worldwide consumption, market size, exports and growth rate of exports, worldwide imports and share of imports from the developing countries indicates that with rose imports from the developing Countries being 28.5 % thereby indicating an excellent demand and a growing market. The trade in Foliages indicate that India has emerged as the top most supplier among the developing countries and have succeed in developing a sustainable market in the EU. The floriculture industry in India can therefore continue to concentrate in this faster growing segment and undertake an aggressive marketing to increase the market share in US and in EU.
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