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13th January 2002

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Brides get their blooms

By Naomi Gunasekera
Surrounded by thousands of flowers of varied sizes and hues, "Mal avilla thiyenne" (flowers have come) says a beaming Sanjeewani. She opens the door to her cut flower shop at the YMBA, Borella with great difficulty, letting out some of the heavy fragrance of the fresh flowers. 

The entire floor is packed with bundled flowers in the most delicate shades of pink, cream, white and yellow. And it is a glorious moment for the flower dealers who had been without flowers for weeks, as they flock around the flower buckets, relieved that the flowers have finally arrived.

The floral industry, in a state of partial-paralysis due to a sudden ban imposed on the import of all cut flowers, reverted to business as usual by mid last week after the re-issuing of import permits on a limited scale by the Livestock and Agriculture Ministry. 

The ban, imposed in December by Livestock and Agriculture Minister S.B. Dissanayake, stopped all cut flower imports, with a view to promoting the flower industry in Sri Lanka. Last week, the ban was lifted on five varieties of imported flowers_ gypsophila, spray roses, standard roses, chrysanthemums and tiger lilies- was lifted consequent to a discussion held by ministry officials with growers, florists and beauticians.

"What they did was bad. They should have at least informed us before imposing the ban because we had a lot of orders for bouquets and decorations made of imported flowers like chrysanthemum and gypsophila (baby's breath). We get a lot of orders in December and January and I had to disappoint most of my customers because of this ban. Some brides took the ban personally and thought it a bad omen that they didn't get the flowers they wanted for their wedding," said Sushila Gunasekera of Supreme Orchid. Ms. Gunasekera who has been in the floral business for over three decades was one of the strong protestors against the total ban imposed on the import of cut flowers.

According to Ms. Gunasekera, there is a big demand for imported flowers like gypsophila, spray roses, standard roses, chrysanthemums and tiger lilies because brides look at foreign magazines for inspiration. "Brides don't go for local flowers anymore. They look at magazines, consult their beauticians and choose unusual floral arrangements for weddings. In fact, one bride wanted her entire wedding decor done out of baby's breath and she broke down when I told her that I was unable to give her what she wanted."

Although the crisis has been averted, problems will arise when the local growers fail to supply the flowers as agreed by May, says Sanjeewani's husband, Suminda Perera of Second Chance Flowers, the main if not the sole flower importer in the market.

The import permit being re-issued to import identified varieties of flowers, is valid for six months during which 50 growers of the Uva Province are expected to produce these five varieties to meet the demands of the local market.

"We import flowers only for weddings. So we need a lot of flowers in months like December and January because there is no big demand for imported flowers during other months unless there are auspicious days. We usually supply 15,000 to 20,000 flowers on an average auspicious day and I don't see how this demand is going to be met by local growers because it is impossible to grow flowers aiming at auspicious days," Suminda explained.

According to Suminda, there are over 250 flower growers in the Uva Province and most of them grow for the export market under BOI projects. They do not grow the light-coloured flowers (yellow, pink, white and peach), commonly used for weddings because these are easily affected by disease.

"The roses we grow are dark. They are not used for bridal bouquets in Sri Lanka because the brides here want pastel shades. So one of the main problems we will face in supplying bridal flowers is the shortage of light-coloured flowers. The other is that brides have become very particular about wedding decorations. They order flowers that cannot be grown in Sri Lanka like tulips and daffodils," said Suminda who imports flowers from the Netherlands, India and Malaysia, when orders are placed.

Explaining the problems encountered by the growers Suminda said; "We are not used to the European style of living and don't use fresh cut flowers in our homes. There is absolutely no continuing demand for flowers throughout the year. We use flowers only for weddings and functions. When it comes to weddings, we don't know when the auspicious days will fall and it becomes difficult to estimate the number of flowers needed without orders being placed. Also growing flowers like gypsophila will cost a lot of money because we will have to build special huts to ensure they are protected from the sun and that the correct temperature is maintained. And as for growing tulips, that is simply out of the question, because they can't be grown here."

All in all, it seems that a clear project plan that will support the grower by providing necessary information and financial aid is the need of the hour if the demand is to be met through local production. If not, growers will face a number of problems and even losses, supplying flowers to the local market only on auspicious days.



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