Indian Farmers Encouraged to Produce Roses for Export

In the weekly technical information sent out to growers [by the NZ Flower Growers Association] on the 16^th July there was a link to an article outlining subsidies and loans to Indian farmers of the Ganjam district of Odisha in the East of India to produce Dutch bred roses for export.

The originating article appeared in the ‘DNA News of India’ Thursday 2^nd of July 2015 by Ronalisa Parida and he quoted the area’s Deputy Director of Horticulture, Bhagdan Dash.  Farmers chosen to cultivate Dutch roses will receive a 50% subsidy from the central government and a 20% subsidy from the state government and the provision of bank loans are also available to the farmers. Both the ‘State Bank of India’ and the ‘Canara Bank’ are providing loans. The nearby city of Bhubaneswar will soon have an international airport through which the flowers can be exported.

NZ Flower Growers Association did receive feedback from some growers on this article and is aware of other instances of subsidies for Indian producers. As a result the following press release has been prepared.

Flower dumping puts Kiwi jobs at risk

Millions of cheap roses from India are being potentially dumped on the New Zealand market, threatening the viability of local growers, the New Zealand Flower Growers Association (NZFGA) says.

Just on 3 million Indian roses flooded into New Zealand in 2013, at a landed price of 24 cents a stem, according to NZFGA acting president, David Blewden.

That figure blew out to 3.3 million stems in 2014 and was complemented by over 300,000 rose imports from Columbia.

“Local Kiwi growers can’t compete with those prices,” Mr Blewden said.

He said that central and regional Indian governments pay large subsidies to domestic growers to produce as much product as possible.  The majority of this production is export oriented with a percentage of it coming to New Zealand at very cheap prices.

“It’s certainly detrimental to our local industry and we are investigating whether we can take action under the Dumping and Countervailing Duties Act.”

Mr Blewden said flower growers here also remain extremely concerned about the biosecurity risks associated with imported flowers.

The massive number of rose and flower imports, and the lax biosecurity inspections and treatment offshore where the plant health certificates are generated, mean a major biosecurity breach in New Zealand is nearly inevitable.

He said it’s not only exporters who are at fault.  A New Zealand-based importer has also been fined recently for importing cut flowers after deliberating falsifying biosecurity documentation.

“A biosecurity breach won’t only affect flower growers but it could devastate many sectors of our $2.4 billion horticulture industry, and potentially be detrimental to native flora.”

For more information contact David Blewden (027) 471-2156, or Chris Smellie (027) 247-8431.

Among the many functions NZFGA performs is a ‘Watchdog’ role with regard to imported cut flowers & foliage and as can be seen from the article the Association has concerns around

• subsidies for overseas producers.

•  On occasion practices by NZ importers.

• The reliance on treatment, inspection, and the generating of health certificates offshore.

While the association is happy with the New Zealand’s Biosecurity requirements and Import Health Standards we do have concerns over MPI Biosecurity’s tendency to rely on past incursions records and would compare this to – suggesting to house owner’s who have maintained smoke alarms that have never gone off over a number of years, that it would be satisfactory to remove them!!

The association is not only concerned with the arrival of a highly  damaging new pests or diseases but also with the potential arrival of highly resistant strains of globally common pests and diseases which could make the producing of export quality flowers and foliage much more difficult.