By Binu Shrestha
Kathmandu, Oct. 30: Import of flowers from India for the festival of Tihar has been witnessing a steady fall, thanks to the rise in domestic production.
Nepal has been seeing an increase in flower production annually, gradually helping the country become self-reliant in flowers.
This year, 85 per cent of demand for flowers is expected to be met by domestic production and only the rest – 15 per cent – will be imported from India, according to the Floriculture Association Nepal (FAN).
Until recently, the country used to import a majority of the flower garlands it used to consume during the festival. The demand for flowers skyrockets during the five-day festival.

Min Bahadur Tamang, president of the FAN, said that domestic flower production would suffice to prepare around 1.3 million marigold garlands of the total national demand of 1.5 million.
That said, the national demand for flowers has yet to be met by domestic production even after a steep increase in domestic production, because the demand for flowers has also been growing by 10 to 15 per cent each year.
He further said that we can be a net exporter of flowers if we start cultivating them at our homes and set up big nursery farms through big investment.
“Our nation’s possibility of exporting flower seems remote at the moment, but records show Nepal had exported flowers worth Rs. 190 million sometime,” said Tamang.
Consumers will be able to purchase a marigold garland at Rs. 70 to Rs. 80 per piece this year. “We have urged each province government to earmark some budget for marigold cultivation in their province to make the country self-reliant in its production. The good news is that some province governments have set aside some budget for the same,” he said.

Nepal has achieved a big success in floriculture business in the last 10 years, and it won’t take much time to become self-reliant in flower production, he said.
According to the association, around 1.35 million marigold garlands were consumed during last year’s Tihar.
Marigold flowers are mainly produced in Kathamandu, Lalitpur, Bhaktapur, Chitwan, Dhading, Makwanpur, Nuwakot, Kavrepalanchok, Sindhuli, Bara, Sarlahi, Dhanusha and Siraha districts.
Meanwhile, the 14th Chrysanthemum Flower Exhibition 2021, which is organised in between Dashain and Tihar festivals, has kicked off from Friday at Jawalakhel Football Ground in Lalitpur. The exhibition will run for four days.