FCI magazine toured the Yunnan Qianjing Agricultural Co. Ltd (云南乾景农业科技有限公司) cut flower farm to discuss the thorny issues of rose growing in China.
According to official data, the province of Yunnan represents China’s largest cut flower growing area, which spans 23,400ha in 2022. Yunnan’s annual cut flower output exceeds 17.8 billion stems. Among these, 70 per cent are cut roses. Due to accelerated urbanisation, Yunnan’s traditional growing areas of cut flowers have moved southwards of Kunming city to the district of Jinning, 50 kilometres away from Kunming’s city centre.
ROSES ARE KING
The 3,700-cut flower hotbed Jinning hosts many rose farms of which more than 666ha is soilless cultivation. Roses are king here. It is claimed that ‘five out of ten Chinese grown roses hail from Jinning’. Yunnan Qianjing Agricultural Co.Ltd” is one of the rose farms in the district. Its owner, Zhang Rong, has more than 20 years of experience in growing roses.
Before branching out on his own, he worked for Van Den Berg Roses (VDB) in Kunming, Yunnan province, one of China’s largest cut flower and potted plant growers. Rong opened his farm, Yunnan Qianjing Agricultural Co. Ltd, in 2021. Besides his farm, he also provides technical services to the Yunnan Yuntianhua Co., Ltd. Rose Farm, a large state-owned company with 67ha of cut roses under production, which is also in Jinning, close to his farm.
CUT ROSE PRICES KEEP DECREASING
As a new farm, Yunnan Qianjing Agricultural Co.Ltd is modest in size and occupies 4ha of greenhouses. Rong grows his roses on the bed of a former phosphate mine. The local government wanted to protect the environment and help re-vegetation, so they went there to build plastic greenhouses and grow cut roses using soilless cultivation systems.
In the beginning, Yunnan Qianjing Agricultural Co.Ltd grew eight varieties of cut roses. Today, only four main varieties have remained. Rong notes, “The market for cut flowers has been in a dire situation since last year with some growers switching to different crops such as blueberries which are claimed to be more profitable.”
Before Covid-19, the average rose price was 1.3 RMB/stem. The price dropped to 1 RMB/stem last year. This year’s stems yield the same or even lower than 1RMB/stem. Rong says, “To support the company’s long-term growth, we had to decrease the rose growing area to 2ha; the remainder is used for growing Hydrangeas. Today, we continue to grow four very popular varieties, including Mitao Mountain (‘Avalanche+’) and Pink Mountain (‘Sweet Avalanche+), both bred by Dümmen Orange, Luoshen (‘Mandala’) from De Ruiter, and Luoxia from Schreurs.”
Red is a popular colour among Chinese shoppers, Rong says. “In the past, we used sorting and packaging machines to save labour costs. However, now that we only have 2ha of roses, the packaging machine is no longer needed.”
SHIPPING AND SELLING
In Yunnan, most roses are sold through Kunming International Flower Auction (KIFA) and shipped to first-tier cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen. Air cargo has been the transportation modus of choice for many years.
However, in the past five years, with a developed transportation system and high-quality delivery service, many flowers are shipped by cold-chain logistics, which is more cost-efficient. Except for KIFA, live streaming also influences the business model, as some growers choose to sell their products online directly. Furthermore, some big traders/ wholesalers will directly come to the farm to pick up roses rather than through KIFA.
Rong comments, “For Yunnan Qianjing, 80 per cent of roses are sold to offline traders directly, and only 20 per cent through KIFA. But KIFA is still the market of choice for most of the growers.”
MORE TRAINING IS NEEDED IN SOILLESS CULTIVATION
From 2005 until now, Rong has seen many changes. He says, “Twenty years ago, rose varieties were very limited in Yunnan, and the growing techniques were not advanced. With more foreign breeders entering China, there are more varieties to choose from. Meanwhile, cultivation techniques have significantly improved. Now, there are environmental control systems, CO2 systems, humidity control systems, and other equipment in the greenhouse.
“In my opinion, achieving a more accurate greenhouse environment control and variety management are the main challenges in the industry. I learned a lot from my previous job at Van Den Berg, which most traditional farmers have no such knowledge. To help them achieve success in greenhouse management is crucial. Meanwhile, growers only change the varieties every four or five years, but consumer preferences change too quickly, so growers need to learn to manage the varieties.”
TARIFFS AND PLANT HEALTH REGULATIONS IMPACT EXPORT SALES
Advanced soilless cultivation techniques significantly improved the yield of roses. Because of their proximity, Southeast Asian countries, such as Thailand and Vietnam, are the main export destinations. According to official data, the sales volume of Yunnan exported flowers had been over 10 million dollars.
Rong concludes, “However, because of tariffs and plant quarantine, the profit of exported flowers is not as high as expected.”
Written by Rong Luo
