VOA常速英语2008年-Floriculture Industry Begins to Blossom in Indi

By Anjana Pasricha
New Delhi
24 February 2008

A nascent¹ floriculture industry in India is cashing in on growing demand for roses overseas. Anjana Pasricha has a report from New Delhi.

It was just over a decade ago that a handful of entrepreneurs began to cultivate roses commercially in southern India, encouraged by the warm climate and a booming market for flowers worldwide.

Those investments have paid dividends². About 50 farms along a "floral corridor" between the southern cities of Hosur and Bangalore exported as many as 15 million red roses ahead of Valentine's Day earlier this month.

The head of the South Indian Floriculture Association, Najeeb Ahmed, says India's share of the world rose market is still tiny. But he says the country is making its presence felt in countries stretching from Australia and Japan to Britain and Germany.

"Indian quality of roses is as competitive in world market as roses from any other country like Africa, Ecuador, Colombia," he said. "We can grow roses round the year without artificial heating, lighting³ and cooling systems, and with abundant availability of manpower - this industry requires a lot of manpower, and we are able to meet these requirements."

It is not just overseas markets that are driving the demand for roses. The domestic market is also booming, as younger people begin to celebrate events such as Valentine's Day with enthusiasm, encouraged by expanding middle class incomes and growing Western influence. Buying flowers for other occasions is also gaining in popularity in big cities.

The blossoming industry is encouraging floriculture companies to expand overseas. Last October, India's largest grower of roses, Karuturi Networks, purchased the world's largest rose producer - a Kenyan business, for $72 million. Kenya leads the world in rose cultivation⁴.

Prasanna Pai, Karuturi's chief financial officer says business is soaring.

"This Valentine's Day has been very good for us. Compared to last year we have shipped four times the quantity we did last year," said Prasanna Pai.

Indian rose exports added up to approximately $80 million last year. Industry experts estimate that floriculture is expanding by more than 25 percent a year.

1 nascent   

adj.初生的，发生中的

参考例句：

• That slim book showed the Chinese intelligentsia and the nascent working class.那本小册子讲述了中国的知识界和新兴的工人阶级。
• Despite a nascent democracy movement,there's little traction for direct suffrage.尽管有过一次新生的民主运动，但几乎不会带来直接选举。

2 dividends   

红利( dividend的名词复数 )； 股息； 被除数； （足球彩票的）彩金

参考例句：

• Nothing pays richer dividends than magnanimity. 没有什么比宽宏大量更能得到厚报。
• Their decision five years ago to computerise the company is now paying dividends. 五年前他们作出的使公司电脑化的决定现在正产生出效益。

3 lighting   

n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光

参考例句：

• The gas lamp gradually lost ground to electric lighting.煤气灯逐渐为电灯所代替。
• The lighting in that restaurant is soft and romantic.那个餐馆照明柔和而且浪漫。

4 cultivation   

n.耕作，培养，栽培（法），养成

参考例句：

• The cultivation in good taste is our main objective.培养高雅情趣是我们的主要目标。
• The land is not fertile enough to repay cultivation.这块土地不够肥沃，不值得耕种。