• More than 24,000 visitors in three days
• Transaction of over Rs 1.5m recorded so far

Kathmandu, October 28

The ongoing Godavari Expo at Jawalakhel has received more than 24,000 spectators within three days, Floriculture Association of Nepal (FAN) — the organiser of the event said today.

The four-day event, which began from Wednesday to promote local flowers, especially Chrysanthemum, is also supported by the Ministry of Agricultural Development (MoAD).

Besides the high flow of spectators, florists have also done business worth more than Rs 1.5 million within the penultimate day of the event, according to Kumar Kasaju Shrestha, president of FAN.

“Visitor flow has drastically increased this year. This is probably because florists have put on a display of a wide variety of flowers this year and flowers have also become comparatively cheaper this Tihar,” added Shrestha.

FAN has been organising such expo ahead of Tihar since the last 10 years with an objective to boost flower business and promote local flowers in the domestic as well as international market.

According to Shrestha, the flower exhibition this year received value customers as a majority of visitors that attended the event were interested in either purchasing flowers or knowing about the domestic floriculture industry.

Organisers have expected more transactions and footfall in the event tomorrow — the last day of the event as the Tihar festival has started from today.

Florists say the demand for flowers is high, especially during Tihar and wedding seasons.

Florists are showcasing more than 400 types of flowers at the expo, out of which chrysanthemum (godavari), marigold (sayapatri), and gomphrena globosa (makhmali) are the major attractions.

As per Shrestha, florists of different parts of the country are showcasing different varieties of cut flowers and ornamental flowers through 36 stalls. Six stalls in the event have been used to disseminate information to visitors about the event itself and country’s floriculture industry.

Meanwhile, FAN had also organised a competition among participating florists and those with the best decorated stalls have been awarded.

Meanwhile, florists participating in the event have stressed on the need to organise such events at regular intervals to promote floriculture business.

“Nepali flowers have a huge potential and demand in the local as well as foreign market. Therefore, the government and FAN should collaborate to organise such events frequently so that domestic flowers are promoted,” said Krishna Bahadur Dulal, proprietor of Buddha Harsha Nursery.

According to FAN, commercial floriculture is done in 39 districts of the country and there are around 675 nurseries in the country. With annual turnover of Rs 1.5 billion, the demand for flowers is growing at 15 per cent annually.