4/7/2020 8. CUT FLOWER PRODUCTION IN SRI LANKA - D.M.U.B.

Dhanasekera[8]

8. CUT FLOWER PRODUCTION IN SRI LANKA - D.M.U.B.

Dhanasekera[8]
1. Introduction

Cultivation of flowers for various religious and cultural festivals has existed in Sri Lanka
for ages. It was only after the British rule that floriculture really came into practice not as
an industry but mainly as a hobby for pleasure. Later, with many new introductions of
tropical and sub tropical plants the trend was gradually passed down to other levels of
society.

Floriculture in Sri Lanka started as an industry in 1970. It has grown substantially during
the last few years to become one of Sri Lanka's major foreign exchange generating
ventures.

2. Present Situation of Cut Flower Production

Western, North Western and Central Provinces in Sri Lanka are the major areas where
cut flowers are grown commercially. Cut flowers grown in the country can be divided into
two main categories based on their temperature requirements i.e. Temperate Cut
Flowers and Tropical Cut Flowers.

Temperate Cut Flowers: Temperate cut flowers include carnation, rose, statice,
gypsophyla, alstroemeria, chrysanthemum, lilies and irises. Among them, carnations
and roses are grown mainly for export, in the highlands of the Central Province of Sri
Lanka. Carnations are produced entirely from imported planting materials and are
graded according to internationally accepted specifications for export. The other species
are commercially grown mainly for the local market.

American and Mediterranean carnation cultivars are quite famous in the world market.
Pink, white, red, yellow and salmon colours are much popular. Novelties such as striped
and frosted types are also becoming increasingly popular. American cultivars grown are
silvery pink, karina, barbara, red barron, elsy, royalette, bagatalle, bianca and adelfie.
Mediterranean cultivars grown are nora barlo, shainah, lena, castellaro, scania, tanga,
roma, pallas and charmeur. Carnations are grown in poly tunnels, covering more than
10 hectares, under fully protected environments.

Roses are second to carnations and production is limited to about 40,000 blossoms per
annum. This is mainly due to the highly expert conditions required for cultivation and
production. Approximately 2-3 hectares of area have so far been used for cultivation of
roses. Roses for the export market are grown under controlled environments in poly
tunnels. Popular colours are highly variable. They are generally required in a mix and an
acceptable mix would consist of red-50%, Pink-30%, yellow-10% and others 10%.
Roses are quite popular in the local market also. Most of them are supplied by small
scale growers.

Tropical Cut Flowers: Anthuriums and Orchids are the most popular tropical cut
flowers which are being grown commercially for exports as well as for the local market.
Anthuriums can be grown at elevations up to 1500 metres above sea level, with texture
and the flossiness remarkably enhanced with increase in elevation. Annual production of
anthuriums is around 3 million flowers, the majority of which are sold at the local market.
The exports of Anthuriums at present are not very significant. A land area of
approximately 10 hectares is under Anthurium cultivation at present and the industry is
expanding steadily at village level. Almost all plantations are either under poly tunnels or
structures with shade netting. However, locally available materials are also used under
certain conditions to provide required shade levels. The standard trade types in the
world market are the "Avo" lines i.e. Avo Nette, Avo Ingrid, Avo Anneke. The improved
standard types e.g. Germa, Cuba, Fuego, Favoriet etc. are also popular. The Royal
Botanic Gardens, Peradeniya, being the pioneer institution for the development of cut
flower industry in Sri Lanka has produced a few promising Anthurium varieties with
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export potential. Some of these varieties are being closely studied and mass
propagation has just been started. A few of the slected varieties are: RBG - Green Tip,
RBG - Soft Sheen, RBG - kandy queen, RBG - Gardens Pride, RBG - Royal Flag, RBG -
Lak Isuru, RBG - Wild Beauty, RBG - Krishnas Red.

Tropical Orchids can be grown under warm humid conditions up to 500 metres above
sea level. Climatic conditions in the Western Province are quite favourable for cultivation
of Dendrobiums, Vandas and Phalaenopsis types which are quite popular in the local
and foreign markets. Approximately 3-4 hectares of land are under Orchid cultivation at
present and the industry is gradually developing to cater to export markets. Almost all
cultivations are under shade netting and the majority of growers have developed mist
irrigation techniques. ‘Madam Pompadour’ (Pink and White), and ‘Rena Vapahoo’ (Pink
and White) hybrids are some of the popular hybrid Dendrobiums in the market. Hybrids
of Arachnis, Oncidiums, Phalaenopsis and Dendrobiums are being exported in smaller
quantities and the income earned is not very significant.

Gerberas are becoming popular among growers due to the availability of a wide range
of long lasting cultivars produced by many modern breeding methods and tissue culture.
These cultivars can be broadly categorised into three classes, namely Singles (such as
‘Fleur’ and ‘Apple Blossom’), Doubles (such as ‘Marleen’ and ‘Hildegard’), and Black
Centres (such as ‘Fabio’ and ‘Rosseta’). Pink, salmon, orange, red and yellow are the
popular colours in the market. Trials have already been started under controlled
environments by private entrepreneurs to grow gerberas for the export market. About 2
hectares of land is so far being used for gerberas.

Grower Categories and Specialities

Generally, large scale commercial establishments also have their cultivations under
green house conditions, poly tunnels or netting. The medium and small scale growers
either have their cultivations under natural shading (under trees) or use locally available
materials such as coir fibre mats, cajans (dried and woven coconut palm leaves) or
ropes to provide shade requirements of a particular crop.

Sri Lanka's floriculture industry consists of three categories of producers or growers a)

large commercial ventures for export; b) middle level growers catering to the local
market; and, c) village level producers who may sell their products to either of the two
categories mentioned above.

The total land area under floriculture is around 500 hectares at present and the majority
of lands are in the Western Province. There are 10 ha under carnations, 3 ha under
roses, 2 ha under gerberas, 10 ha under anthuriums, 3 ha under orchids and 472 ha
under foliage plants. These figures clearly show that the floriculture trend so far in Sri
Lanka has been in favour of foliage plants.

The majority of large scale commercial growers produce plants in collaboration with
foreign partners. Technology is shared by these partners and highly advanced methods
of production are followed. However, most of these ventures are involved in the
production of ornamental foliage plants and very few are involved in the production of
cut flowers. Middle level and village level growers usually go in for low cost cultivation
with minimum advanced techniques, sticking to conventional methods. The majority of
these growers are the ones who produce cut flowers. Therefore, most of the cut flowers
produced are used to satisfy the local needs and only the surplus is exported
occasionally in small amounts. The exception is the production of carnations which are
grown mainly for the export market. However, export oriented cut flower ventures are on
the increase.

3. Production of Planting Material

Flower seeds of many flowering annuals such as asters, petunias, impatiens, phlox and
verbenas are produced mainly for export under fully controlled green house conditions.
A small part of this production is released to the local market at regular intervals. The
bulk of floriculture planting materials exported are in the form of stem cuttings rooted or
unrooted. A very small amount of bulbs, corms and tubers are exported to specific
customers abroad.

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Large tissue culture units are few in number. However, at present, six commercial tissue
culture units are operational. One of these laboratories specialises in the production of
cut flower anthurium plants through tissue culture. This venture is of recent origin and
produces large quantities of anthurium plants now popular in the world market. Four of
these laboratories are attached to large commercial, export oriented nurseries involved
mainly in ornamental foliage plants and to a lesser extent cut flowers. The sixth of these
laboratories is exclusively for the production of orchids for export.

There are a few middle level orchid growers who own mini-laboratories for the
production of orchid seedlings and other ornamental plants for village growers.

4. Marketing

Thus far the cut flower market in Sri Lanka has not been able to create Auction Centres
as many other countries have done. Retail outlets scattered through the production
areas are the popular centres where cut flowers are sold. There are few growers who
have created cooperative systems to sell their products.

Exporting of cut flowers is done by a few societies which have a selected group of
partners and farmers. In many instances the agents are sent to villages to collect
flowers from farmers directly. Exports of floriculture products from Sri Lanka are shown
in Table 1. Main export markets are Europe (72%), and Far East and Middle East (28%).

Table 1. Export of Floriculture Products from Sri Lanka (1990-1995)

Value (Million Rupees)

Product
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995
Bulbs, Corms, Tubers 0.5 0.71 21.2 21.6 10.03 6.1
Live Plants 99.5 123.1 132.4 120.3 162.4 179.0
Cut Flowers 31.0 29.7 21.7 34.5 45.3 54.8
Cut Foliage 60.3 77.74 106.9 111.0 189.1 190.2
Total Rs. Million 191.3 231.25 282.2 287.4 406.83 430.1

5. Potential for Cut Flower Production Development

Sri Lanka's stable and varied tropical climatic conditions and the geographic terrains
from sea level up to 2200 metres of humid mounts have created magnificent macro and
micro environments to house many thousands of local as well as sub-tropical and
temperate plants. The rich native flora contains many potential ornamental plants which
could be developed to satisfy the demands of the flourishing industry.

Sri Lanka has a favourable location to serve different markets in the world. Availability of
land and the high literacy rate of the average person would be an added benefit to those
who wish to invest in the industry. In addition, the tax benefits and BOI incentives
granted by the government would help bring in more investors to the country and
facilitate further development of the existing industry.

Furthermore, the new policy framework prepared by the Ministry of Agriculture and
Lands has clearly identified the need to initiate a Floriculture Research and
Development Programme. This programme will cover many areas such as agronomy,
pathology, entomology, mutation, breeding, post harvest and mass propagation to
support the industry.

6. Constraints in Cut Flower Production Development

The following are the major constraints being faced by the majority of growers:

a) Inadequacy and high cost of air cargo: Air Lanka, the national carrier has
always given priority to perishable cargo. However, the available capacity is
not sufficient.

b) Lack of facilities for research and development: So far only the Royal
Botanic Garden, Peradeniya has been involved in providing assistance by

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and large to the middle and village level growers, but this is negligible when
compared to the ever increasing demands of the industry.

c) Lack of trained personnel: The floriculture industry requires trained

personnel at each level of production. Education programmes from schools
up to University level and training institutes to conduct courses on high-tech
practical skills in floriculture are essential for the development of the
industry.

d) Big initial investment on farms: Duty free facilities for import of vital items
not produced in Sri Lanka such as shade nets, uv stabilised polythene,
irrigation and fertilising systems etc. would help to promote the industry.

e) Lack of improved systems of marketing: Lack of proper or organised

systems for marketing and inadequacy of current international market
information on prices, trends, volumes and data on competitive countries
etc, severely affect the development of the industry.

f) The uneconomical size of floriculture industry: Difficulty in acquiring

suitable land and lack of infrastructure facilities also adversely affect the
industry.

g) Lack of information on pesticides: Current information on pesticides and

their acceptance in various countries is essential.

h) Phytosanitary clearance: Phytosanitary inspection just prior to shipment

are inconvenient and expensive, besides leaving no time to rectify any
problems.

7. Conclusions

Floriculture has a great potential in Sri Lanka even though the existing market share is
less than 0.2% of the world market at present. Interest in the cut flower industry is
encouraging and many investors, both local and foreign, have started their nurseries to
cater to the expanding market.

A comparison of the world trend and the production figures of Sri Lanka clearly show
that we are not in line with the world trend. However, this situation will soon change with
the new policy changes taking place in the country. The Ministry of Agriculture and
Lands, Export Development Board and various Floricultural Associations of the country
have got together to discuss various issues in this regard and progress so far is very
encouraging. Steps should, however, be taken to encourage floriculture research to
cater to the special needs of the existing industry and to facilitate long term research
programmes to explore the rich flora of the country to develop novelties to satisfy the
growing market.

The Government should take immediate steps to alleviate constraints mentioned above
and to create an Institute or a Centre for Floriculture Research and Development. This
could be a semi-governmental Centre or an Institute partially supported from the
growers annual income.

[8] Superintendent, Royal Botanic Gardens, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka.

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