Flowers and blueberries
On September 20th-22th, the 22nd Kunming International Flower Expo of China (KIFE) opened at the Kunming Dianchi International Convention and Exhibition Centre. Around 430 companies from 13 countries participated in the show among which companies from the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Japan, Israel, Germany, Denmark, and France. Exhibitors brought new varieties, new technologies, and new achievements to the show. Except for flowers, the show was also concerned with blueberries as the blueberry industry proliferates in Yunnan. Some flower growers even decided to grow blueberries.
This year, the UK was the Guest of Honor country, and Fujian the Guest of Honor province. Fujian organized 12 enterprises to participate in the exhibition. Meanwhile, the Netherlands Pavilion area was nearly 1,000 square meters with 23 enterprises displaying new varieties and new technologies.
Some of the flowers on display
Plant variety protection
During the exhibition, a seminar about plant variety protection was held. The speakers from RHS, Xiamen Chaotang horticulture company, the National Forest and Grassland Administration, and the International Union For The Protection Of New Varieties Of Plants (UPOV) shared the latest trends in plant variety protection. According to statistics, the innovation of new varieties has increased in China with companies bringing in 40.38% of the total new variety applications. Applications from research institutes account for 28.95% of the total applications.
Exploring new machines and export opportunities
Except for the new varieties, there were also new machines on display. For example, the domestic sorting machine for cut roses from Kunming Fengqian Technology company. According to the people of the company, the machine can help growers decrease the cost, at least 0.1 RMB/ each stem. Further, they claim that it can test the length of stems, flower colors, and the size of flowers with high precision.
The sorting machine
Yunnan's local flower growers are looking for export opportunities. Southeast Asia such as Thailand, and Vietnam used to be the main exported countries, now growers are also looking for other destinations.