19 Chait, Kathmandu. The third ‘National Horticulture Expo 2082’ has started today from Thursday at the exhibition hall at Bhrikutimanda in the capital.

A comprehensive exhibition of commercial products of flower, fruit, agroforestry and herb nurseries has started with the aim of promoting the development and expansion of the nursery business as well as the organization of the Nepal Nursery Business Association.

Bagmati Province Agriculture and Livestock Development Minister Madhusudan Poudel inaugurated the expo.

Minister Poudel expressed his commitment to allocate more funds for this sector in the upcoming budget, saying that the flower business in Nepal is growing by 10 to 15 percent annually and it plays an important role in creating self-employment.

He said that flower business should be developed not only as farming but also as an art and skillful profession.

‘Artistry is also connected to this business, the provincial government is always with the businessmen for the necessary training and technical support to make the business modern and technological so that it can compete with the international market,’ Minister Paudel said.

Similarly, Director General of Agriculture Department Prakash Sanjel said that the private sector will now lead in agricultural development and the government will play the role of support and policy facilitation.

He says that since the phase of identifying the problem is over, now is the time to focus on the solution.

He said that the private sector, which accounts for 80 to 85 percent of total investment and employment, has been accepted by the government as a ‘leading agency’.

“In the 100-day action plan of the new government, priority has been given to the leadership of the private sector,” he said.

Informing that the department is working to solve the problems of nursery and flower business, he said that preparations are being made to amend the Agriculture Act to address issues such as quality, quarantine and import-export facilitation.

He said that the future of the nursery business is bright as the government has set a target of expanding fruit cultivation in 10,000 hectares and for that millions of plants are needed.

There are more than 65 stalls in the expo, including nursery traders from all over the country, commercial stalls, informative stalls, competition stalls.

More than 700 species of plants have been kept for display and sale at the expo.

Fertilizers, organic and chemical pesticides, seeds, pots, tools and technology have also been exhibited in the expo.

Similarly, awards were distributed in various categories based on the best performance at the opening of the expo.

While Shivpuri Nursery dominated the competition and achieved excellence in three categories namely Best Landscape Design, Best Ornamental Plant and Best Fruit Plant, our garden nursery managed to win two awards in Best Presenter of the Expo (Flower) and Seasonal Flower categories.

Similarly, Kantipur Nursery has won the award for Best Flowering Plant, All Tropical Plant Nursery for Medicinal and Aromatic Plant and All Tropical Plant House has won the Best Presenter award for overall horticulture.

According to the association, it is estimated that about 51,000 people will observe this year and there will be more than 15 million commercial transactions.

The association has informed that currently there is an investment of 11.83 billion rupees in the nursery sector and an annual financial turnover of 6.43 billion rupees.