With All Saints’ Day (Day of the Dead) on November 1, the high season of the horticultural flower sector kicks off. Every year, the Day of the Dead is celebrated by placing candles, wreaths and flowers at the graves of passed away family members and friends, which means that a huge portion of the annual flower trade is concentrated around the October-November period.
In the case of the popular flower chrysanthemum, which makes up for 70% of the large-blossomed flower trade, 60% of the sales take place in October. Because of uncertainty around the pandemic, this year, flower growers only planted around 17 million chrysanthemums instead of the regular 20 million. On average, the domestic populace buys 12-13 million flowers from the large-flowered breeds (Palisade, Creamis, etc.) and 1.5-2 million of the smaller ones.
This year, the flower scene shows a mixed picture. In Budapest and the west of the country, chrysanthemum prices are higher but in the south and east, especially around Szeged, (a region strong in chrysanthemum growing), prices are much lower.
Chrysanthemum growing, due to the seasonality of the market, operates on a tight schedule. This year, an added difficulty was the increase of input costs (propagation and chemicals). Due to this and the general effects on the economy, horticulture generally faced a season full of uncertainties.
Source: www.agroberichtenbuitenland.nl