The Ministry of Modernisation of Agriculture is planning to develop commercial flower cultivation in the state, said its Assistant Minister, Hajah Fatimah Abdullah.

Flowers, which once grew wild and free, has been developed into commercial plants commanding good market demand and the growing popularity of flowers as gifts and decoration had spawned a thriving commercial enterprise which is suitable for women.

The worldwide floriculture industry demands a diverse range of cut flowers and foliage products, with the unusual and the exotic always attracting the attention of this fashion-driven industry.

Most traditional flower crops grown commercially today are the result of many years of intensive selection and breeding. For example, carnations have
been grown for over 2000 years and have been improved by breeders since the 16th century, making the carnations that a florist uses today very different from the original wild parents.

Other crops like chrysanthemums have a short flowering season, but commercial growers can produce flowers for most of the year by choosing early and late flowering varieties and by artificially controlling the day-length under which they are grown.

According to the minister, the landscaping projects taking place in the country could help spur the development of commercial flower cultivation industry
further.

Every year, the authorities organised landscaping competition among government departments and the cleanliness and beautification competition in residential areas throughout the state.

For example, in 2004 the Padawan Municipal Council organized the 12th Annual Landscaping Competition, which saw entries from 14 secondary schools, 95 primary schools, 16 Malay villages and 20 Dayak villages in Padawan district.

In 1999, the Serian District Council came first in the National Level Landscaping Competition in conjunction with the National Day celebration with its “Taman Tasik Danu”.

The cleanliness and beautification competition is held annually to create awareness and to instill and encourage in the residents’ cleanliness, landscaping, beautification and creativity.

The idea is to develop a sense of belonging to their residential area and to cultivate the spirit of esprit de corps. These activities can be harnessed by entrepreneurs, especially women, to supply the councils with plants and flowers from their nurseries.

“This is one way for the womenfolk to venture into business as a way of improving their livelihood and for this, we have the Women Economic Development Agency (WEDA) under the Department of Agriculture which is helping women in developing their business,” added Hajah Fatimah.