Flower growers received a boost over the weekend as people flocked to snatch up carnations to give to their mothers with the lift in sales offering relief for a market that has wilted in recent months.
Flower growers over the past few months have suffered a drastic decline in demand, with some flower plantations in central Taiwan being forced to leave large amounts of cut flowers to rot in the marketplaces.
Fueled by careless words from the new premier earlier in the year and the dragging recession, the situation had grown so dire that some flower growers didn't even bother to harvest their crops.
In February, newly appointed Premier Yu Shih-kun declared a ban on the receiving of gift flower baskets by members of government agencies, saying the practice was wasteful.
That comment drew the ire of the flower-growing industry which claimed the ban had created a financial loss of between NT$2 billion to NT$3 billion.
Yu subsequently flip-flopped, claiming that he valued flowers and plants, not only for personal reasons but because of the industry's NT$10 billion yearly output.
Currently, the more than 10,000 hectares of flower plantations on the island produce NT$9.52 billion worth of flowers annually, with chrysanthemums, gladiolus, carnations and roses representing the lion's share.
The official said that people in Taiwan are not very generous in terms of buying flowers. However an agricultural official said yesterday that the flora market has been showing signs of recovery since earlier this month.
Statistics released by the Council of Agriculture show that people in Taiwan spend an average of NT$150 on flowers a year, which is far less than the average amount of NT$1,200 in Japan and NT$1,350 in the Netherlands.
The domestic market is usually brisk only on traditional festivals like Chinese New Year and special holidays related to showing affection, such as Valentine's Day or Mothers' Day. Flowers are also used as gifts for weddings, new business openings and other festivities.
In addition to carnations, flaming lilies, cala lilies, eustomas and roses are popular flowers of the season, according to the official.
The official pointed out that in some parts of the nation, flowers have become the most important agriculture product. The chrysanthemum fields and rose gardens in Changhwa as well as the water lily fields and orchid greenhouses in Tainan are important foreign exchange earners as well as a favorite stop for tourists.
He said that in the 1960s flower plantations in Taiwan totaled 234 hectares. By the 1990s, flower-growing regions had increased to more than 6,000 hectares. In the past decade, more flower plantations have been developed around the island, with the total acreage exceeding 10,000 hectares.
Most of the orchids, chrysanthemums, carnations, anthuriums, and gladiolus are for export. In 1988, the first flower auction market was set up in Taipei. Currently, operations of the four auction markets in Taipei, Taichung, Changhwa and Tainan are mostly computerized, according to the official.
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