Background

Following the collapse of the prawn industry in the mid-80’s, an interesting industry slowly emerged in the early 90’s as dynamic and aggressive women entrepreneurs turned their expensive hobby into a multi-million profitable and enjoyable “sunshine” industry. This paved the way to the birth of the Floriculture Industry in the Province of Capiz. From an obscure industry, it grew to become one of the rapidly expanding agri-business sectors in the province today involving more than 5,000 stakeholders, florists, landscape artists, contractors, technologists, input providers, farm technicians and gardeners.

Capiz is a major producer of potted orchids and orchid cutflowers, landscape materials, fresh foliages and potted ornamental plants in the whole of the Visayas. It is also recognized as one of the sources of the best and rarest ferns in the country today. Presently, it is slowly building a name as the premier source of exportable cutfoliages in the country.

Roxas City leads in the number of producers in the province with ten (10) commercial farms located here. It is also considered as the marketing center with the presence of 4 trading outlets such as the Paseo de Catedral, Balay Kapisnon, Teodoro Arcenas Trade Center, and Talon Garden Center. It is followed by the municipalities of Sigma, Dao, Panay and Ivisan. As of December 2005, total land area devoted to floriculture is estimated to be more than a hundred hectares.

Underlying the strength of the industry is the Capiz Multi-Purpose Cooperative (CMPC) which serves as the primary coordinating body of the cutflower and ornamental plant growers province-wide. It works closely with relevant national government agencies (NGAs), local government units (LGUs) and industry associations to provide an enabling business climate for the industry to develop and grow. All of the big producers in the province are members of the Capiz MPC. It is a duly registered organization with the Cooperative Development Authority and Department of Trade and Industry.

The local ornamental industry cluster is composed of the core industries, the supplier industries, and other industries that provide related and other services. The cluster is made of interlinked and interdependent key and supporting industries and institutions.

Vision

A unified, self-reliant, environment-friendly and globally competitive Floriculture Industry towards the improvement of the quality of life of its members and the community and be known as the “Cutfoliage Capital of the Philippines”

Service & Input Providers – this category include the following:

Landscape Artists - those who provide landscaping services to households, public and commercial buildings, subdivisions, memorial parks, others. There are about 9 known professional landscape artists in the province at present.
Floral Artists –those who provide floral arrangement services for such occasions as weddings, funerals, debut, graduation, product launching, grand openings, etc. Most of the floral artists are concentrated at the Paseo de Catedral located near the Roxas City Metropolitan Cathedral since they are also cutflower traders.
Cutflower/Ornamental Plant Traders – are those who are engaged solely in selling cutflowers and ornamental plants. They either sell in a permanent stall/place (such as Balay Kapisnon, Paseo de Catedral) or are ambulatory (as most of the traders during municipal/city market days).
Input providers – include those who are engaged in selling of garden inputs and accessories such as organic fertilizers (Hacienda Olive), terra cotta/plastic pots, and soil-less plant medium.

Industry Status and Performance

Production

Cutflowers

The province produces only few varieties of cutflowers in commercial-scale. These are orchids (white dendrobiums), roses, and asters (white & lilac). Other low-grade varieties produced in limited scale include dahlias, azucena, African daisies, assorted heleconias, and gladiolus (orange). Orchid cutflower and heleconias were at their production peak from1995 to 2000 with 4 commercial farms producing an aggregate yield of 1,500 dozens per week. Production volume slowly dropped over the past 5 years as more and more flowers coming from outside of the province flooded the local market. Presently, only 1 farm is growing orchids.

Fresh foliages and Live Plants

The foliage plants comprise 80% of the ornamental plants industry in Capiz and has become an important source of livelihood for many families. Most foliage plants are grown in commercial farms and backyard gardens of Sigma, Dao, Panay, Ivisan and Roxas City.

The foliage plants are sold either as cut, potted or live plants. Potted plants serve as indoor and landscaping plants, while cutfoliages are for floral arrangements.

The demand for foliage plants is increasing. For the last 10 years, foliage plants whether as cut or live, have the biggest share in the export market. At present, Capiz is the only province exporting cutfoliages to Japan in the whole of Luzon and the Visayas.

Major Products Sold

The products and services of the industry include cutflowers, potted flowering plants and greens, cuttings, cutfoliage, landscaping materials, non-soil rooting media, floral arrangement services, landscaping services.
A. Cutflowers - are so called because they are detached from parent plants and are formed into bouquets, leis, arrangements, centerpieces and the like. They are grown and traded for their aesthetic value. They are given away in appreciation and as an expression of love, joy, and encouragement on such occasions as weddings, anniversaries, birthdays and special events like Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, and All Saints’/Souls’ Day. Major cutflowers produced by the province are orchids such as dendrobiums, and vanda terrete; roses, puto-puto, heleconias and gladiola.

B. Filler Flowers – includes white and lilac asters, and baby’s breath.

C. Cut and Containerized Foliage Plants - refers to fresh leaves, twigs and branches cut fresh and utilized in floral arrangement, evergreen, and foliage plants grown in container for interior and exterior decorations. Major cut foliage produced by the province are dracaenas, polycias, palmeras, song of India, song of Korea, kamuning, cordylines, bottlebrush, rhappis and ferns.

D. Pot Plants – flowering annuals, shrubs, herbaceous perennials grown in containers used for exterior and interior decorations. Most popular flowering pot plants grown here include orchids, euphorbia, hibiscus, and bromeliads.

Landscaping Materials – plants consisting of evergreen and flowering trees, shrubs, herbaceous perennials, grass covers and furglass used for landscaping purposes. The following are some of the high-value palms grown in the province: Champagne, Bismarck, Hawaiian Fox Tail, Red & Blue Palm, and Sugar Palm. Meanwhile, some of the widely grown ground covers include mundo grass, golden peanuts, carabao grass, Bermuda grass, and chichi Rica.

Non-Soil Rooting Media– coco coir/dust, organic fertilizer, drift woods, fern wood and chips.

Organic Fertilizer – locally produced and manufactured soil enhancers. One of the brands commonly used is RANCAP which is made by Hacienda Olive in Pontevedra.

Services – landscaping, flower arrangement, plant cliniquing/ consultancy
Existing Trade Houses

1. Paseo de Catedral

Arsobizpo St., Roxas City

2. Balay Kapisnon

McKinley St., Roxas City

Tel. No. (036) 621-3445

3. Talon Garden Center

Primer de Mayo Street, Roxas City

VII. Industry Potentials

The industry has vast potential for development because of the following factors:

Available Technology and Support

§ Availability of suitable production technologies from external sources.
§ Government and research institutions such as DTI, DA/BPI, DOST, PCARRD could very well provide the needed technical and logistical support for the development of the industry.
§ Production technologies are available for essential oil extraction which has big demands in the domestic and export markets.

Strong labor force and growers’ association

§ Affiliation to industry associations at the national level
§ Existence of the Capiz Multi-purpose Cooperative, which serves as the umbrella organization of all cutflower and ornamental plant growers in the province.
§ The province has a supply of trainable labor force.
Favorable Environment
The province has no pronounced dry or wet season which is well suited to grow ornamental plants. The province is likewise seldom visited by strong typhoons.
Vast tracts of land are still available for development.

Growing Demand

Growing international and domestic demand due to the growing appreciation of the aesthetic value and environmental importance of ornamental crops.
Proximity to other Asian market which places Capiz in a good position to serve emerging markets.
Opening of the Iloilo international airport enhances capability for international trading.

VIII. Projections

Imports (intra-national & international)

Fresh cutflowers will dominate the province’s imports of ornamental plant products. These imported flowers are those which are not locally produced due to climatic conditions such as chrysanthemums, lilies, roses, anthuriums, stattice, gerberas, carnation and some varieties of gladiolas. Coming in close, will be other live plants, cuttings and slips which will also be used as planting materials or mother plants. Far in third rank are orchid seedlings. Flowers have seasonal demands