Flora Expo begins

KATHMANDU, MARCH 15: The 25th edition of the Flora Expo began yesterday at Bhrikutimandap in Kathmandu. Organized by the Floriculture Association of Nepal and the Floriculture Development Centre, the Expo will run until March 17. Chairman of the Association, Min Bahadur Tamang, shared that a total of 73 stalls including 60 commercial ones, three landscaping, eight official and others are kept in the Expo

. The organizers have expected some 50,000 visitors and business transactions worth Rs 10 million in the Expo. The Association said that Nepal is now self-reliant on flower production in most of the seasons except for the Tihar festival.

With the rise in demand for flowers, flower production and farming have increased to 43 districts in the country including Kathmandu, Lalitpur, Bhaktapur, Kaski, Chitwan, Makawanpur, Kavre, Gulmi, Palpa, Dhading, Morang and others. Nepal produces some 450 species of flowers and the market of this business is Rs 3 billion-plus annually.