4.5 million garlands will be needed for Tihar: FAN

KATHMANDU: Flower garlands, mostly marigolds, worth an estimated Rs 400 million are expected to be traded during this year’s Tihar festival.

This marks a 20% growth compared to last year, according to Ram Bahadur Tamang, vice president of the Floriculture Association of Nepal (FAN). There will be demand for approximately 4.5 million garlands during the festival, say officials of FAN.

However, domestic production alone cannot meet all the demand. According to the FAN, local production can meet only around 65% of the demand for marigold – the most popular flower during the festival. “Marigold demand rises 20-fold during Tihar,” Tamang said. “About 1.5 million marigold garlands are expected to be imported during the festival to meet the shortfall in demand.”

Officials of the FAN estimate another 400,000-500,000 garlands will enter the country illegally through the open border with India.

Marigold garlands are mostly used to decorate homes and offices throughout the country during the festival.

Farmers say flower production was affected this year due to floods and landslides in the last week of September. Flower farmers across the country suffered damages worth Rs 140 million due to the disaster, say officials.

“Marigold imports were very low last year as we had abundant domestic production. This year’s floods have forced us to increase imports significantly,” Hari Bahadur KC, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, told Himal Press.

Despite these setbacks, officials of FAN expect flower prices to remain stable during the festival. They expect marigolds will be available at around Rs 90 per garland, Globe Amaranth at Rs 45 per garland and mixed flowers at Rs 300 per garland.

FAN Chairperson Dilip Bade claimed that Nepal can achieve self-sufficiency in flower production with proper government support. “While we are already self-sufficient in Globe Amaranth and Chrysanthemum production, we are forced to import other flowers like marigolds during Tihar due to a lack of government support,” Bade said.

The country’s floriculture industry is worth around Rs 9 billion. According to the ministry, commercial floriculture is done on 260 hectares in 52 districts. The sector provides direct and indirect employment to around 60,000 people.

Kathmandu Valley, Kavre, Sindhupalchok, Nuwakot, Gorkha, Makwanpur, Dhading and Chitwan are major products of flowers in the country.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Agriculture has issued directives to customs and police to curb illegal flower imports during the festival season, aiming to protect domestic producers and regulate the market.