An Overview of Upcountry Cut Flower Industry, Sri Lanka

Floricultural products exports bring a considerable amount of income to Sri Lankan economy and there is a huge development potential. Upcountry is a main cut flower production area in the country. This study’s focus is to identify the general information on cut flower production, marketing, problems and suggestions for the improvement. This is a descriptive study where field survey was conducted in three districts in Sri Lanka. Primary data were collected through face to face and telephonic interviews with 58 flower growers by using a pre-tested structured questionnaire. Discussions were held with flower exporters, flower sellers and personnel from Department of National Botanical Gardens and Export Development Board. Snowball sampling methods were used to select the flower growers. Secondary data were collected from the books, research articles, institutional publications and internet. Data was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS version 17). Majority (79.2%) of the respondents were females and mean age of the respondents was 51 years. Cultivation of food crops and flowers was the main source of income of the majority (74.5%). Asetermaria, Desi, Gerbera, Chrysanthemum, Rose and Lilies were the main flowers cultivated and the average monthly income received from flowers was LKR 28,250.96. Selling to the wholesalers visiting the village is the most prominent local marketing method for the growers. A continuous demand exists in the international market for cut flowers. Even though flower exporters are willing to buy flowers from the area, continuous and quality supply of flowers is a problem. Unavailability of proper market alone was identified as the main problem by 42.3% of respondents. It is recommended to motivate farmers for production planning. Export quality flower production at the village level, more tailor made trainings to growers, integrated approach to provide inputs, market and information in one package will provide solutions for the issues encountered in the sector.