Bangalore: The floriculture scene in Karnataka seems to be blooming with new International Flower Auction Bangalore (IFAB) centre all set to commence operations by this July, a top official of IFAB said.

The new Rs 10.38 crore IFAB complex is coming up in six acres of land belonging to Karnataka Agro Industries Corporation (KAIC) and will be funded by Agro Processing Export Development Association (APEDA), Dr K V Sarvesh, Managing Director, IFAB said.

The total assistance to be provided by APEDA will be a one-time grant of Rs 3.57 crore against the total project cost for the first phase of the project, he said.

The balance will be borne by KAIC covering the land cost, equity investment of Rs 34 lakh by KAIC and Rs 36 lakh by South India Floriculture Association (SIFA) respectively, he said.

IFAB, with a large cold storage facility will have the capacity to handle a maximum of 3 lakh stems per day, Sarvesh said.

With the coming of MNCs (Multi National Corporations) on to the scene and changing social patterns and habits, there has been a tremendous increase in the domestic market for cut flowers. Be it a marriage ceremony, a social do or a political function, flowers have become endemic to the State's culture, Sarvesh said.

"In fact, in the next five years the demand for flowers in the domestic market itself is going to be ten times more," he said.

Karnataka occupies the top position in floriculture exports in the country, with roses from the State in great demand in the domestic as well as international market, Sarvesh said.

The demand for flowers like gladiolus, anthurium and gerbera grown in Coorg and Belgaum areas of the State is also growing, he said.

With liberalisation, about 6 export-oriented rose projects came into production during 1995 with nearly 120 hectare of poly house and a production capacity of 18 million rose stems per year, he said.

Since all the flowers produced cannot be of export quality, sizeable quantity of flowers were required to be marketed in the domestic market. There was also no organised market for cut flowers in Bangalore then, he said.

With this in mind, KAIC started an organised flower auction centre in 1995, the first and only flower auction centre in India in association with SIFA. This auction centre is now being upgraded to meet international standards in a new complex, he said.

This centre aims not only aims at increasing floriculture productivity in Karnataka but also the quality of flowers, employment opportunities and increase in the income of farmers by exploiting the market potential and accelerating the demand for flowers.

Although poly house roses form the major bulk in auction, several other cut flowers such as carnation, gerbera, bird of paradise, lillies, tuberoses, orchids arrive at the auction from as far away places as Coorg, Udupi, Mangalore, Koppal, Sirsi, Udhagamandalam, Yercaud, Thiruvananthapuram, Pune and Hyderabad and also rarely from Uttar Pradesh and Himachal, Sarvesh said.

The number of flowers arriving at the auction centre and the annual turnover has been continuously on the rise ever since the auction was started. The annual turnover in which was Rs 10 lakh in 1995-96 has increased to Rs 227.50 lakh during 2002-03, he said.