From Gul-e-Dawoodi nurseries to women-led micro-enterprises, specialists name for strategic assist
PESHAWAR:
From marriage ceremony garlands and celebratory bouquets to ceremonial showers for revered company, the aromatic blooms of Pakistan’s gardens contact each nook of day by day life. Flowers are additionally the uncooked materials for perfumes, important oils, and ornamental exports, making them a flexible and economically useful useful resource.
Amid this wealthy floral tradition, 28-year-old plant vendor Qadir Shah tends to rows of younger Gul-e-Dawoodi saplings glistening beneath the delicate winter solar at a small nursery in Tarnab, Peshawar’s floriculture hub.
Qadir, inherited the household enterprise, is busy watering, trimming, and getting ready 1000’s of vegetation ordered by instructional establishments — together with faculties, faculties, universities — and public places of work throughout Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for December’s Gul-e-Dawoodi exhibitions.
With the annual flowers exhibition at historic Islamia School Peshawar across the nook, Qadir and his two helpers have little room for pause. “All of the ordered inventory will likely be prepared by the top of this month,” he says, brushing soil off his palms. “We even import Gul-e-Dawoodi saplings from Pattoki, Kasur district, to fulfill winter demand.”
For Qadir, who inherited the enterprise from his father, floriculture will not be merely a supply of earnings however a legacy of color, dedication, and hope. Rising transportation prices, rising labour wages, and plant losses as a result of harsh climate have lower deeply into earnings, he famous.
“If floriculture is asserted an business, it could change every thing positively in Okay-P,” he mentioned. “The province has monumental potential for this important sector. It could empower girls and youth, and assist Pakistan faucet into billion-dollar world flower markets.”
Specialists agree that Pakistan’s soil and local weather are among the many greatest on this planet for decorative vegetation. But, floriculture stays one of many province’s most ignored agricultural sectors.
Dr Abdul Rauf, Director Normal Agriculture Analysis Okay-P, defined that floriculture encompasses not simply the cultivation of ornamentals, but additionally their advertising and marketing 1 from lower flowers and dwell vegetation to important oils, fragrances, and medicinal by-products.
“In Pakistan, most flowers bloom throughout winter, when Europe and Central Asia are beneath snow,” he mentioned. “This provides us a pure aggressive benefit, and our authorities should capitalise on it.”
The returns are hanging for a lot of small farmers. Whereas crops like potatoes or cherries earn Rs80,000-100,000 per kanal, flowers can fetch Rs 1.5-2 million per kanal — a possible financial windfall typically ignored by policymakers.
World demand for lower flowers rises 10-15% yearly. But, regardless of bigger arable land, cheaper labour, and beneficial local weather, Pakistan has not captured even a fraction of this market. “Improved manufacturing know-how and coordinated insurance policies may change this,” Dr Rauf pressured.
Dr Muhammad Naeem, former Chairman of the Economics Division on the College of Peshawar, mentioned floriculture may rework rural economies, particularly as conventional crops eat over 90% of the nation’s freshwater sources. “Flowers require considerably much less water than sugarcane or rice and supply greater returns per acre,” he mentioned. “For small farmers, this can be a recreation changer.”
He added that floriculture creates job alternatives in value-added merchandise similar to perfumes, important oils, and pure dyes, which might take up girls and youth into the workforce.
Nevertheless, regardless of these benefits, the sector stays largely casual and underfinanced in Okay-P. Farmers face risky costs and excessive spoilage as a result of insufficient chilly storage and transportation. Many growers lack technical assist to fulfill market calls for or fight plant ailments.
This problem is very seen in Pattoki and Kasur, residence to Pakistan’s largest flower market. Most growers are small-scale and lack the capital to construct climate-resilient greenhouses or undertake drip irrigation techniques. “Local weather change has made conventional farming riskier,” Dr Naeem added. “Floriculture affords resilience, however small farmers have to be supported to face up to local weather shocks.”
Specialists emphasise the necessity for focused coverage motion. Integrating floriculture into provincial agricultural methods, incentivising personal funding in chilly chains, and forming public-private partnerships can dramatically increase yields and high quality.
Strengthening extension companies and offering specialised coaching will help growers meet world export requirements. Digital platforms can join them with consumers straight, slicing out middlemen and rising earnings.
“Pakistan stands at a crossroads,” Dr Naeem mentioned. “We are able to proceed relying on water-thirsty, low-value crops or diversify into high-value, climate-resilient sectors like floriculture.”
In Nowshera, 32-year-old Sumbal Riaz has constructed her personal floral micro-enterprise from residence. “I began with only a few pots,” she mentioned. “Now I earn a considerable earnings.” Her younger Gul-e-Dawoodi vegetation are transported to Tarnab, the place they promote out rapidly throughout winter.
Sumbal urges the Okay-P authorities to supply interest-free loans to assist girls entrepreneurs increase. “With a bit assist, many ladies can stand on their very own toes,” she mentioned.
Muhammad Diyar Khan, Undertaking Director of the Billion Timber Afforestation Undertaking, mentioned the Okay-P authorities is supporting local weather resilience and youth entrepreneurship via such initiatives. “Inexperienced jobs have already been offered to 1000’s of ladies and youth,” he mentioned. “Floriculture can grow to be one other robust avenue for sustainable livelihoods.”
From Peshawar to Kasur, and from Swat to Thatta, Pakistan’s pure setting affords the canvas of a thriving floriculture business ready to bloom. With strategic assist, rural communities could quickly domesticate not simply flowers, however a extra affluent future.
