One lesson that local ornamental plant growers can learn from their Taiwanese counterparts is that one should specialize. One does not have to grow a lot of varieties in order to succeed.
During our tour of horticultural centers in Taiwan, we have observed that many of the commercial growers just grow one kind or just a few kinds but these are in big numbers.
Just like one we saw in Central Taiwan, for instance, who is growing nothing but ornamental pineapple. He grows them by the hectares.
Another grower just specializes in flowering guzmanias. He just grows a few varieties in several big greenhouses.
One of the most noticeable potted ornamentals grown in many places in Taiwan is the Zamioculcas zamiifolia. People are really growing them by the hundreds of thousands. They are also presented in very innovative ways. Some are grown into big specimen plants and then planted three plants to a big ceramic jar. These are very impressive decorative plants and they command as much as NT$3,000 each. That’s about
R5,000 in Philippine money.
Then there are the producers of nothing but oncidiums. That’s one of the orchid farms of the Taiwan Sugar Company in Kaohsiung. It grows this orchid on more than seven hectares, much of the flowers produced for export.
Some growers also specialize in nothing but bedding plants. In Taoyuan in northern Taiwan, for instance, there is a place where 17 growers produce different kinds of bedding plants by the millions. Each bedding plant costs just an average of NT$7 each (about
R12) but then the volume is tremendous. One lady grower we interviewed, for instance, produces about 3.5 million bedding plants a year. And the beauty about this is that there is a ready market for her produce. The city of Taipei buys about 70 percent of her production for use in the city’s landscaping projects.
The auction markets in Taiwan are helping a great deal in the development of the ornamental horticulture industry in Taiwan. There are at present six auction markets in different parts of that country.
The auction markets serve as a ready outlet for the produce of growers. These markets assure the growers of fair market prices. At the same time, however, the auction markets help enhance the quality of horticultural products in the country. That is because the farmers have to meet certain quality standards before they could be accredited as suppliers.
The auction markets also make it possible for the growers to receive their payments on time. Often, payments are transferred electronically.
The good thing about the auction markets is that the land and facilities are put up by the city governments where they are located. However, they are not run by the government. Management of the facilities is bidded out to the private sector who have to run them as honest-to-goodness businesses. –ZAC B. SARIAN
