Cut Flowers free essay sample

The country that exports the most cut flowers is the Netherlands, which dominates the world cut-flower trade. There, seven auction houses handle about 60 percent of the worlds cut-flower exports. Some auction houses are very large indeed Aalsmeer, near Amsterdam, is an auction house in the sense that Tokyo is a city or Everest a mountain. Its scale is daunting. About 120 soccer fields would fill its main hangar, which holds five auction halls. Nineteen million cut flowers are sold here on an average day. The Netherlands is also a world leader in developing new flower varieties. Dutch companies and the government invest a considerable amount of money in flower research. Their scientists try to find ways to lengthen a flowers vase life. They also try to strengthen flowers to prevent them from being damaged while traveling on rough roads and to strengthen flowers natural fragrance. Despite Hollands dominance of the flower market, there are many places with a better climate for growing flowers, and the climate of Ecuador is almost perfect. We will write a custom essay sample on Cut Flowers or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Mauricio Davalos is the man responsible for starting Ecuadors flower industry some 20 years ago. Our biggest edge is nature, he claims. Our roses are the best in the world. With predictable rainy periods and 12 hours of sunlight each day, Ecuadors roses are renowned for their large heads and long stems. The flower industry has brought employment opportunities and a stronger economy to regions of the country. My family has TV now. There are radios. Some people have remodeled their houses, says Yolanda Quishpe, 20, who picked roses for four years. In recent years, local growers in Ecuador have faced growing competition from greenhouses built by major international companies. Despite this, Davalos feels that the world cut-flower trade is large enough to allow both high-tech international companies and smaller national growers to succeed at least for the time being. But not all local growers are as  optimistic. Lina Hale is an independent rose grower in the United States whose business is now under constant threat from cheaper imports from large companies. In the 1980s, her father predicted the situation would get worse: â€Å"I see a freight train coming down the track,† he warned her, â€Å"and it’s coming  straight towards us. †