With the 10-day Dashain festival starting this week in Nepal, florists and nursery operators have their fingers crossed in hopes of better business compared to previous seasons. However, traders said they were concerned about the decrease in demand and production as well as low stakeholder sentiment.
Despite the decrease in imports of plants compared to the first two months of the last fiscal year, the current economic situation of the country has lowered consumers' interest in purchasing flowers for the festive season, stakeholders told The Himalayan Times.
People across the country choose to purchase flowers and garlands for various purposes during this festive season, with chrysanthemums and marigolds being the flowers of choice.
Min Bahadur Tamang, president of the Floriculture Association of Nepal, shared that although there is considerable demand, local production has decreased following the lack of investment by stakeholders after the COVID pandemic. "As many flower growers were denied loans by banks and financial institutions following the interruption in the chain of supply, much of the flowers withered away, adding to the decrease in production. Although the sector is slowly reviving itself and with increasing demand compared to past years, the rate of production has not improved very much," Tamang informed.
Read the complete article on www.thehimalayantimes.com