Supply of Benguet flowers enough for ‘Undas’ despite storms, says DA
BLOOMS FOR ALL SEASONS The pandemic almost killed the flower business in Baguio City after health and travel restrictions cost local vendors their regular customers. Relocated to a spot at Burnham Park, many of them continue operating by selling bouquets for every occasion and season. —VINCENT CABREZA
BAGUIO CITY, Benguet, Philippines — The supply of flowers grown in Benguet province and other parts of the Cordillera is enough for “Undas” (All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day) despite frequent monsoon rains and recent typhoons that hit the region, an official of the Department of Agriculture (DA) said on Tuesday.
Cameron Odsey, the DA Cordillera director, said at least 164,667 dozens of roses grown in gardens in Benguet had been harvested and stored in time for Undas and the Christmas holidays when demand for flowers is high.
More than 2.1 million dozens of cut flowers were produced and sold by Cordillera growers in the past nine months, Odsey said in an interview on Tuesday.
Cut flower growers harvested and stored 4.4 million dozens of chrysanthemums in August. A total of 120 million dozens of chrysanthemums have been harvested since January.
DA records showed that at least 112,023 dozens of anthuriums had been stored in the same month, raising their number this year to 1,025,662 dozens. The total number of anthurium harvests since January has reached 1.025 million dozens.
Benguet is one of the major sources of cut flowers. Gardens in the village of Bahong in La Trinidad town, in Atok town, and in the outskirts of Baguio grow gladiola, white calla lily, statice, baby’s breath, carnations, aster and alstroemeria, snapdragons, gerbera, agapanthus, “mel flores,” lisianthus and sunflowers.
Traditional flower farmers have adjusted to the climate, and have learned to store bundles of flowers in refrigerated rooms and containers in preparation for events like graduation from May to September and next month’s Undas, said Loreta Hornalez, vice president of an association of Baguio cut flower vendors.
Hoping for rebound
Hornalez, who sells bouquets and fresh flowers at a stall in Burnham Park, said flower prices by November would depend on how rising inflation would affect transportation cost, tourist mobility and prices of basic goods.
“But it’s not the prices we are concerned about. We hope to finally experience a rebound when families come out and visit cemeteries for All Saints’ Day,” Hornalez told the Inquirer.
These flower traders were small business owners who were almost wiped out when the COVID-19 pandemic broke out in 2020, leading to community lockdowns and quarantines that kept most people at home, she said.
Sales dropped to almost zero for some, while traders who have regular clients saw their revenues drop by half, Hornalez said.
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