Special fund for floriculture announced

Bangalore, Jan 18 (UNI) Union Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath today announced a special floriculture fund to give a fillip to floriculture exports from the country.

The Rs 26 crore fund was among the series of initiatives to be launched by the Centre to help India's floriculture industry to capitalise on the huge export opportunities he said while inaugurating the country's first modern auction centre for flowers.

He said the government has also planned to set up Replanting Subsidy Fund of Rs 47 crore in the eleventh Five Year plan and continuation of the transport assistance subsidy to exporters to offset the high freight cost which make India's flowers non-competetive.

''Commercial floriculture has a big economic importance as it could provide income and employment to thousands of Indian farmers, offering a viable diversification option in rural India,'' Mr Nath said.

The domestic flowers market is estimated at Rs 600 and is crore growing at a rapid pace, he said adding that the export market is estimated at 11 billion dollars and was expected to grow at 16 billion dollars by 2010.

Stating that the International Floriculture Auction Centre has marked a new stage in the development of commerial floriculture in the country, he said that India's diverse agro climatic conditions enable the production of different kinds of flowers in various parts of the country.

Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority under the Commerce and Industry Ministry had initiated to set up auction centres in cities including Mumbai, Kolkata, and Noida, he said adding that the setting up these centres would help producers and growers to get better returns based on the quality of flowers and most importantly, reduce the volatility of prices.

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