Cut flowers.

• Position: Flower industry - Industry overview

Overview

In most cultures, receiving a red rose would be an occasion to smile. Symbolic of love and passion, the rose is a flower of choice--compared, say, to the poppy, which is the staple funeral flower of England and the gift of which may signify that you are dead. Cut flowers are widely used in birthdays, weddings, and funerals, and given the frequency of these occasions it's not surprising that behind the fragrant, gloriously colored petals and pruned stems is a vibrant agricultural industry reaping US$30 billion in global profits every year.

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The Netherlands, the traditional powerhouse of cut flower production, still controls 60 percent of the world's cut flower trade. But the modern cut flower market has expanded to include India, Kenya, Ecuador, Thailand, and Colombia, as well as the Yunnan province in China, which grows half of the cut flowers sold in Asia. Yunnan alone exported 77 million stems in 2005.

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Closing the Loop

Chemical residues from cut flowers may literally be at consumers' fingertips, as they are never fully removed. But workers may be at higher risk: growers rarely supply proper protective garb to reduce topical exposure to the various chemicals used during production. Toxin exposure often correlates with disease in the workers who harvest the crops and prepare the flowers for retail sale; after prolonged exposure to the pesticides, herbicides, and floral preservatives, workers often show symptoms of nausea, dizziness, delirium, headaches, and rashes. Over time, workers may develop chronic reproductive problems, dermatological conditions, and/or cancer.

The floriculture industry is exploring alternative production methods, including ecologically sensitive bio-controls, disease suppressive compost, and crop steaming (which impedes enzymatic processes in pests). Biofumigation and hydroponics (the replacement of soil with nutrient-rich liquid solutions) are progressive alternatives, though with high capital and operational costs. More...