India: Manipur flower festival promotes local floriculture

“For the last 15 years, the flower business has kept my family afloat. The money from selling flowers also goes to support my children’s education. If only the government or the banks helped us through with subsidized loans, we could even have targeted export. There is lot of demand for flowers, plants and even dry flowers from both within and outside the state,” said Nisha Mao, a florist who participated in the Second Flower Festival in Manipur, organized by the Mao Flower Growers’ Association with assistance from the Horticulture department.

This is the reality in frontier state Manipur, identified as a floriculture hotspot. The irony is profound given the fact that the Union ministry of Commerce and Industry’s plan for a roadmap to promote floriculture in Northeastern states like Sikkim, Nagalnd, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Manipur as India tries to venture into export oriented floriculture by its development in the region.

Altogether 64 florists from all over Manipur took part in the three-day festival from 9th to 11th April at Mao in the hill district Senapati, where over 35 varieties of rare species of flowers were on display. Besides colorful flowers, bonsai plants drew huge crowds at the fair. Manipur is home to rare flora including varieties of flowers and rare orchids.

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