Himachal flowers for Holland

Carnation flowers grown in green houses in a remote high valley of Himachal Pradesh have been exported to Holland for the first time.

"The first consignment of 2,500 carnation buds in seven colours have been successfully exported to Holland from the Churah valley in Chamba district," said an official of the state horticulture department.

Officials said if the flowers were received well in Holland, it would set a new trend of growing carnations, tulips and gladiolus by farmers in Himachal to market in European countries and fetch huge returns.

The carnation stems were first imported from Holland and then grown in green houses in Churah, a remote valley some 500 km from here.

Once the flowers were ready to be harvested they were carefully packed and classified by a team of Dutch experts, headed by S Naile.

The team had earlier visited the Churah valley and trained locals on growing, grading and cutting these flowers .