 "Flowers
are not moving this year. This year's Valentine's Day
is not living up to its mark. Have these youngsters forgotten
to say it with flowers?" asks a seller at the flower auction
centre. The touch of cynicism in the statement takes one by
surprise considering that all his stock has been sold and the
auction centre is marking a turn over of 1.5 lakh rupees in
one single day. But then, when one takes into account last year's
Valentine season, which recorded a new high of 40.56
lakhs, this year's lean patch tends to draw concern. In fact,
last year on Valentine's Day, the auction centre recorded the
highest turnover ever of 5 lakh rupees.
But overall, the floriculture trade has come to stay
in Bangalore and in the coming years the city will witness tremendous
growth. The international flower auction and processing centre
being built at the Karnataka Agro Industries Corporation
(KAIC) Centre in Hebbal fortifies the prediction. The modern
floriculture trade, with a turnover of Rs 204 lakhs for 1999-2000,
has come a long way since it was introduced with government
assistance.
It was during the early days of liberalization in 1992, when
private entrepreneurs were encouraged through incentives to
take up modern a gricultural
practices, that many export-oriented units came up in Pune,
Bangalore and Delhi for the production of flowers. In 1995,
about six export units started production in polyhouses spread
across 12 hectares. The Agricultural and Processed Food Products
Export Development Authority (APEDA), under the Ministry
of Commerce, is implementing several schemes of assistance,
mainly aimed at strengthening infrastructure and product development.
Cold storage facilities for flower export have been set
up at several gateway airports like Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai,
Mumbai, Thiruvananthapuram and Guwahati.
KAIC manages India's first flower auction centre at Bangalore.
Since there was no organized market for selling the enormous
quantity of cut flowers, KAIC started an auction centre in October
1995. Initially, the auctions were held three days a week, but
later, owing to demand from the buyers, auctions are held on
all days. With truckloads of flowers arriving at the KAIC auction
centre, work begins very early in the morning. As soon as they
are unloaded, the sellers confirm the quantity with the authorities.
And at exactly 8.30am the auction begins.
Gone are the days of chaotic scenes with buyers frantically
yelling at the top of their voice. The IT revolution
has struck here too and the auction is fully automatic, with
a digital auction system identifying the buyer. The digital
dis play
system begins the auction in a high to low manner and the price
bid is instantly recorded to stop the price fall. Linked to
the digital system, the buyer is provided with a button fixed
on the desk and the moment it is pressed, the buyer code is
displayed and the final price is shown. Soon the sold produce
is segregated and cash is paid. Farmers from far off places
like Koppa, Sirsi, Udupi in the state and Ooty, Nainital,
Trivandrum, Pune also bring their produce to be auctioned.
To reiterate the fact that Bangalore is going hi-tech, now there
is an internet auction centre functioning opposite KAIC
centre. Rosebazar.com is an internet auction site where
one can buy not only roses but also other varieties grown in
and around the city. International buyers form Holland, Japan
and Germany log on to the site and clinch business deals
with farmers here. So, with the boom in the floriculture trade,
it seems the path ahead is strewn with flowers! Is the picture
really that rosy? Ask the roadside flower seller at the crowded
marketplace…
For more information, contact:
Karnataka Agro Industries Corporation Ltd.,
Bellary Road, Hebbal, Bangalore-560 024
Phone: 2341 0180, 2333 0314,
Fax: 2341 0828
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4:53:40 PM 
