February 11: Stakeholders estimate a turnover of Rs 35 million through the sales of roses on Valentine’s Day.

The Floriculture Association Nepal expects sale of 350,000 steam roses (Dutch Rose) worth Rs 35 million across the country within one week leading to the Valentine’s Day on February 14.

According to the association, around 200,000 steams of roses are expected to be consumed in the Kathmandu Valley and the remaining 100,000 steams in cities outside the valley.

People involved in flower business say that the domestic production of roses will meet 10 percent of the total market demand for roses this year.

The price of a stem of rose this year will be within the range of Rs 80 to Rs 120 depending on the quality of the flowers. In general, the price of rose per steam is around Rs 60 but the price surges during Valentine’s Day due to high demand.

In Nepal, roses are generally produced during favorable conditions when the weather is warmer. The market demand is met through domestic production from March to November. However, the domestic production is less during the winter season. Min Bahadur Tamang, president of the association, says that they have to rely on imports from India to meet the demand for roses in December, January and February.

Tamang said that roses are also smuggled illegally into Nepal from India.

“The government is not paying attention to this. If we could stop illegal imports, Nepali farmers would be encouraged to increase production within the country," he said, adding, "At present, we have not been able to increase production of roses in the winter season due to the lack of advanced technology.”

Since the use of technology is somewhat expensive, Tamang says it will increase the production cost.

He argues that the local farmers cannot risk investing in technology to produce flowers at high cost during winter if the illegal import of flowers from India continues unabated.

Around 348,000 steam roses were traded during this period last year. In Nepal, there is a daily demand of 8,000 to 10,000 steam roses except during festivals. Until a year ago, there was a decline in flower production due to the Covid pandemic. After the end of the pandemic, the domestic production of roses has increased slightly due to increase in investment.

Commercial farming of roses is done in districts such as Kathmandu, Bhaktapur, Lalitpur, Chitwan and Kavrepalanchok. Its commercial cultivation is expanding in other districts as well.