Nepal to import roses worth NPR 15 million from India for Valentine’s Day

Kathmandu [Nepal], Feb 9 (ANI): With the start of Valentine’s week, Nepal has witnessed a surge in the import of roses from India.
According to the Floriculture Association Nepal (FAN), about 160,000 stems of roses worth NPR 15 million would be imported here for this year's Valentine’s Day celebrations which falls on February 14.
“We are now importing the roses from India. Importing flowers from other countries rather than India would push the price of roses to a high point in the market. We bring these roses especially from India’s Calcutta and Bangalore,” said FAN's president Kumar Kasjoo Shrestha.
“For this year’s Valentine’s Day, we have estimated that about 200,000 stem roses will be needed. We collected this data from various sources which yield the demand of 200,000 stem roses. Out of which approximately 1.5 lakh stem roses would be imported from India while the demand for about 50,000 stem roses will be addressed by internal production,” Shrestha added.
According to FAN's statistics, Nepal imported roses worth NPR 12.5 million in 2018 from India. The figure is higher this year due to increased demand. In fact, 60 per cent of the total demand is consumed by Kathmandu valley alone.
With the cold increasing in the Himalayan nation, Indian roses are in demand for the 'day of love' which is popular amongst youngsters.
"The production of roses here in Nepal is down because of the cold and we are fulfilling the demands by importing from India, imported by the whole sellers and then brought here for the sale," said Meena Tamang Shrestha from the Royal Daffodils Flowers Shop in Kathmandu.
As per FAN's estimates, out of the 2 lakh rose stems sold on Valentine’s Day, 1.5 lakh rose stems are from India.
During Valentine’s week, Nepali markets see a sale of about 8,000 to 10,000 stems of roses in a single day. (ANI)