Indonesian spray chrysanthemums to enter Japan

Indonesian spray chrysanthemum growers are working hard to enter the Japanese market. "The Japanese authorities are very strict regarding quality and the sanitary and phytosanitary regulations," says Ani Andayani of the Indonesian Ministry of Agriculture, who supports Indonesian growers in entering new markets. "Currently, two spray chrysanthemum varieties from one of our growers have been tested and approved for entering Japan," she says. Last week at the IFEX, Andayani presented these spray chrysanthemums along with leatherleaf ferns, lucky Bamboo and Heliconias at the IFEX in Tokyo, Japan.

Ani Andayani of the Indonesian Ministry of Agriculture at the IFEX in Tokyo, Japan.

Supporting farmers
The Indonesian Ministry of Agriculture is supporting growers to increase the quality and to export their plants and flowers. "We are promoting the good agricultural practices and since 2006, we have been qualified to certify farms with INDOGAP that have been benchmarked with GLOBALGAP. We advise growers regarding the use of crop protection products, fertilizers, techniques and so on. For example, additional lighting is needed for the chrysanthemums. These flowers need 16 to 18 hours of light a day, but we only have 12 hours of natural light a day. Therefore, growers need to install lamps. We support these growers in choosing and installing the right lamps. Every six months, the certified growers are being supervised and every two years, they are carefully being checked to see if they still comply with all the GLOBALG.A.P. standards," explains Andayani.

Expanding export markets
Over the years, Indonesia has expanded their export markets fast and are still looking for new markets. "With an eye on the fact that Japan will increase their flower imports in the future, it will become an important market for us. Our lucky bamboo and leatherleaf ferns, for example are already being exported to Japan, Saudi Arabia and others Middle East Countries. However, the chrysanthemums never complied with the strict Japanese quality demands and were therefore not imported by Japan. However, lately, two spray chrysanthemum varieties of one of our growers in Indonesia, called Bunga Indah Malino, have been accepted. This farm grows chrysanthemums in a 2.5 ha sized greenhouse in Malino, the Gowa District of Indonesia. We support the farm to enter the international market, and in particular Japan."

Competition
Even though the Indonesian farmers have a strong will to enter the Japanese market, they have to deal with some large competitors. According to Andayani, the majority of the spray chrysanthemums in Japan are imported from Malaysia and Vietnam. "Fortunately, the quality of our Indonesian chrysanthemums increased over the years and now we can offer more or less the same quality as the spray chrysanthemums from our competitors. Besides that, the air flight connection is direct between Indonesia and Japan, which also enables us to deliver fresh flowers. In the future, we expect the exports of spray chrysanthemums to rise sharply as increasingly more of our growers are producing 'healthy flowers'. We help farmers to earn money from the flower industry not only domestically but also for exports."

For more information
Ministery of Agriculture
Ani Andayani
Email: andayanijp@gmail.com