PESHAWAR: Growing different variety of flowers in the vicinity of Peshawar has been a source of income for many people but severe weather conditions and price hike have forced them to grow wheat and other crops for survival.

Hundreds of locals were associated with the business of flower selling but of late most of them were rendered jobless owing to dampening of the trade as production of flowers touched the lowest ebb. The mushroom growth of housing schemes and construction of buildings have also reduced agricultural land to a great extent.

Ramdaz Bazaar in Peshawar is the main market for flowers trade because florists and traders fetch flowers from the fields of the neighbouring villages to Ramdaz market for down country supply.

According to the locals, most growers in the villages including Bazidkhel and Mashokhel have begun cultivating other crops due to scant production of flowers.

Florists and experts opine if proper care and patronage is provided, production of flowers can be improved and cultivators can be guided how to counter the climate change. “I think if steps for increasing production of flowers are taken, it could give better results,” Noor Wali, a florist, told this scribe.

Ali Gul, 56, a flower grower, said that he had been related to the trade for the last several decades. He said that severe weather conditions and high inflation forced many cultivators in and around Peshawar city to grow other crops because most flowers could not complete their growth cycle hence low production resulted in monetary loss.

Ghani Rahman, another trader, said that Peshawar’s flowers were supplied to different cities of Punjab and some varieties were in good demand in Karachi. He said that climate change affected cultivation of flowers and some local farmers constructed houses on their agricultural land while others quit the trade owing to financial constraints.

“Different varieties of flowers grow well in summer where their production for supply to down country picks up. The season of some flowers lasts for three, four and six months respectively but if their growth gets stumbled before pick time then most varieties lose market value,” said Raheem Jan.

Some variety of flowers could not stand the severity of weather conditions and the ongoing cold weather is fast dampening its trade owing to low yield and scat land for cultivation.

Published in Dawn, January 30th, 2023