Bengaluru: Bengaluru traders are seeing a significant rise in rose trade this year, ahead of Valentine’s Day Saturday. The International Flower Auction Bangalore (IFAB) is expecting the number of rose stems auctioned during the season to cross a crore.IFAB’s assistant general manager, Veena AM, said the count surpassed last year’s number even before Feb 14. “Last year, a total of 88.1 lakh rose stems were auctioned between Feb 1 and 14. This year, the number is already 88.3 lakh on Feb 12,” she said, adding that around 10–13 lakh stems are expected to be auctioned by the end of Saturday.Over 70% of the total roses sold in and from Bengaluru go through IFAB, while the rest is procured directly from growers. This includes roses sold at prominent markets like KR Market.Early demand:IFAB managing director and joint director of horticulture, M Viswanath, said: “Usually, demand for roses begins to soar around Feb 7. This year, the demand began earlier, from Feb 1, in the run-up to Rose Day on Feb 7.”The price of the rose also went up by 10–15%. Last year, a stem cost Rs 14–16 on average. This year, the price is Rs 16–18 on average, going up to Rs 20 in some cases.Regions like Kolar, Chikkaballapur, Bengaluru Rural, Anekal, and Hoskote are the major sources of roses, along with Tamil Nadu’s Hosur. Major Indian cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Visakhapatnam are the main destinations in India. Countries including Singapore, Malaysia, New Zealand, and Dubai are the top international destinations for Bengaluru roses.Rainwater enhancing quality:The region surrounding Bengaluru has roses growing on an area of over 1,500 hectares. Viswanath informed rainwater harvesting was mandated for farmers to avail a subsidy to set up polyhouses. This resulted in farmers saving and using lakhs of litres of rainwater every year in each polyhouse.“Rainwater is ideal for growing roses as its electrical conductivity is nearly zero. This helps in better nutrient availability to the plants,” he said. The climate and soil conditions in the region around Bengaluru are also ideal to grow Dutch roses. “Bengaluru roses also have bigger buds, with the stems growing up to 70cm in length. They have a longer shelf life of up to six days, mainly due to optimal cold storage,” he added.
