Growers call for reducing irrigation, shipment prices to improve flower sector

AMMAN — The Jordanian flower market is a promising sector that needs official support to overcome challenges, such as operational cost and exportation, a sector leader said on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, Agriculture Minister Ibrahim Shahahdeh visited a flower exhibition in Amman, where members of the sector briefed him on their challenges, reported the Jordan News Agency, Petra. He expressed the government’s keenness to improve the sector and remove obstacles that hinder exports.

The Jordanian Association for Cut and Ornamental Plants’ president, Mazen Ghalayini, on Wednesday said that Jordan grows 50-60 million different types of flowers and 25 million roses a year.

The Kingdom exports 20 per cent of its flowers to Lebanon and Syria, Ghalayini told The Jordan Times during a phone interview.

Like many sectors in Jordan, the flower sector has witnessed a downturn in exports, due to the border closures with traditional markets in Syria and, thus, Lebanon, according to the president, who added that before the closures, the Syrian and Lebanese markets accounted for around 40 per cent of exports. 

Growers also have to contend with the cost of water used to grow flowers, which amounts to JD0.85 per cubic metre and is not feasible, said Ghalayini.

The majority of nurseries are located in the Jordan Valley, Baqaa and Um Al Ammad, in Madaba, he added.

Ghalayini called for “preferable” pricing for shipping flowers by plane, such as other producers of vegetables and fruits receive.

“The shipping prices should be lowered to improve Jordan’s competitiveness in the international flowers market,” Ghalayini said.

In 2017, Jordan signed an agreement with the Dutch embassy in Amman to establish a flower bourse to help farmers exhibit and sell their produce.