Rose sector to bloom on domestic demand

Riding the wave of increased domestic demand fuelled by the middle-class, the Rs 800 crore rose industry is poised for 25-30 per cent growth.

"Domestic demand for cut roses has been growing by more than 30 per cent over the past few years and we expect the trend to continue," P Sudhakar, MD, Pochiraju Industries, said on the occasion of company's maiden public issue in Mumbai on Wednesday.

The company is entering the capital market on January 15 to raise Rs 37.57 crore for its new venture in bio fermentation and protein purification unit with working capital requirement at an accumulative cost of Rs 47.57 crore.

Selling under the "Pochiraju" brand, the company mainly caters to northern and southern markets with a greenhouse rose growing area of six hectares, as the western market is avidly controlled by producers in Pune.

India has about hundreds of brands of glossy and colourful roses out of which "Sweet Heart" and "Intermediates" are the most popular in the overseas markets, mainly in the US and the UK.

Although India's rose exports are valued at Rs 250 crore per annum, the total share comprises only 0.5 per cent of world floriculture business. Hence, there is huge potential for growth in this sector, Sudhakar said. India's share in the global floriculture market stands at a paltry 0.1 per cent.

The major consuming nations of the $64 billion cut rose sector include USA, Canada, Europe, Japan, Australia, Middle East and New Zealand.

Most of the flowers are grown under protected conditions in covered structures like greenhouses and poly/glass houses where the temperature ranges between 15-20 degree. Using artificial cooling or heating system is uneconomical as of now.

While production in the traditionally recognised centres such as the Netherlands and USA have reached threshold levels, developing countries such as Columbia, Israel, South Africa, Kenya and India have emerged as additional production centres over the past few years.

The growing demand for flowers has resulted in a steady increase in the acreage in India and abroad. Currently, developed countries account for more than 90 per cent of the trade in floriculture products, while European countries accounted for majority of imports.

High energy costs and intense climatic conditions have forced European and the US to depend largely on imports to meet their domestic demand.