Imported flowers take bloom off local industry
Tantri Yuliandini, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The sky is still dark, the sun has not come up yet, but the Rawabelong flower market in West Jakarta is already bustling with activity.
Thousands of different varieties of cut flowers are sent to the market each day, some in refrigerated containers, others on the backs of motorcycles, in pick-up trucks and minivans.
The market itself is small, with less than 100 traders, but there is no end to the flowers that come in from all over Indonesia. Although small in size, the Rawabelong flower market is considered one of the biggest centers of the flower trade in the country.
Most of the flowers come from Cipanas, Sukabumi and Bogor in West Java, including gladiola, chrysanthemums, asters and orchids. But others come from farther away, such as tuberoses and jasmine from Ambarawa, Central Java, and roses from Malang, East Java.
"Flowers come in starting very early in the morning, sometimes at two or three in the morning," a trader said, adding that the flowers were harvested from nurseries in the late afternoon of the previous day.
Indonesia is home to more than 35,000 species of flowers, and has just about the most complete collection of orchids in the world. However, despite all this, Indonesia's flower industry has yet to bloom in full.
For instance, according to the Indonesian Flower Association (Asbindo) there were only 3,638 hectares of land under cultivation for cut flowers in Indonesia in 2000, compared to 7,000 hectares in Thailand in 1995 and 34,000 hectares of land in India the same year.
Exports of cut flowers from Indonesia only amounted to US$6,659 in 2000, while in 1995 Thailand exported more than $80 million worth of cut flowers, or 2.1 percent of the world's exports of $3.72 billion.
Japan is Asia's main market for cut flowers, but instead of exporting directly to this country, Indonesia's cut flowers are exported to Singapore which then re-exports them after hiking prices by more than 100 percent, according to the association.
Many factors contribute to the problems faced by the industry. According to an analysis by the central bank on the Indonesian cut flower industry, Indonesia's reliance on imported seeds was one of the main problems, explaining that this adds to the cost of production by about 30 percent to 35 percent.
Transportation is another hurdle in the industry, with airlines preferring to carry more lucrative and durable goods than flowers.
Furthermore, the analysis showed that Indonesian horticulturalists preferred to grow leafy plants, which are in demand locally, rather than the more export-oriented flowering plants.
"International demand for floriculture is composed of 55 percent flowers, 5 percent orchids and the rest leafy plants; while in Indonesia it is 60 percent for leafy plants, 25 percent orchids and 15 percent cut flowers," the report said.
In addition, the practice of buying flowers for one's own personal use is virtually unknown in Indonesia, leaving the purchase of cut flowers for special occasions such as birthdays, weddings and funerals.