New floricultural items

A large market with huge potential for the crop production of our country can be opened by the cultivation of new floricultural species. The growing demand for new floricultural products and the international trend for more natural shapes in flower arrangements, is a challenge for both the floriculture industry and the state, which is called to invest and utilize Greek native plants as another alternative and competitive proposal in crop production sector.

A large market with huge potential for the crop production of our country can be opened by the cultivation of new floricultural species. The growing demand for new floricultural products and the international trend for more natural shapes in flower arrangements, is a challenge for both the floriculture industry and the state, which is called to invest and utilize Greek native plants as another alternative and competitive proposal in crop production sector.

Tulip, crocus, wild carnation, kritamo, milkweed, sage, peony, elixir, and even white lilies found on the sea shores, are just some of the plant species that could be grown in our country and rediscover their position in the world market of floriculture, since already European nurseries sell Greek native plants at very high prices.

"We import Greek floriculture"

As the director of the Institute for Genetic Improvement and Phytogenetic Resources, Dr. Eleni Maloupa, points out, Greek floricultural plants, as with aromatic medicinal plants and herbs, can contribute to the viability of the floriculture industry, making businesses competitive profitable as an investment.

"In the past, the Flower Growers' Cooperative used to grow some plants, but the economic crisis did not help them to continue the cultivation, due to the high costs of greenhouse maintenance, heating and lighting, but also competitiveness with foreign markets," said Ms. Maloupa. , pointing out at the same time that turning to Greek plants means lower costs, as they are grown in the external environment, and competitiveness, since they are already known in foreign markets and can easily integrate into entrepreneurship. "Instead of importing plants, we can grow them ourselves," he notes, adding that in some training seminars for flower arrangements, 60% of the imported cut plants were Greek, ie species that grow naturally in Greece but are cultivated abroad and which we import at very high prices. "We have a variety of items," says Ms. Maloupa, and fruits and with whole parts of plants ".

As he says, an example is the bells, that abroad there are large companies that use them and in Greece we have more than 10 different species which we leave unexploited or cut them uncontrollably, thus depriving them of the ability to reproduce and biodiversity, while cultivation could also contribute to the protection of species.

Source: ypaithros.gr