CEBU City is the biggest producer of cut flowers in the province, City Agriculturist Joelito Baclayon proudly said during the 7th Flower Festival early this month. The festival was one of the highlights of the 2nd Agri-Bonanza Fair initiated by the City Agriculture Department.
But while the cut flower industry in Cebu City is “blooming,” the article “Cut Flower Production in the Philippines” written by Teresita L. Rosario and posted on the Food and Agriculture (FAO) website (www.fao.org) did mention Cebu (Cebu City and Province) among the major producers of cut flowers in the Philippines.
In the Visayas, Cebu is listed as a major grower of orchids, roses, chrysanthemums, gladiolus, calla lily (zantedeschia aethiopica) and gerbera. FAO mentioned the Philippines as having both available land waiting for tillage and production and an ideal climate for year round production of flowers.
But while the agriculture department has obviously provided help to flower growers who are mostly in the upland barangays, the cut flower industry in the city has remained under the radar. The flower festival, for example, has been staged for the past seven years already but only attracted the attention of the concerned upland barangays.
That may change with reports about a farm in Sirao, a mountain barangay in Cebu City attracting the attention of netizens. People have been visiting the farm, which features multi-colored celosia blooms, mainly for selfies. The photos posted on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are spreading consciousness about the cut flower industry in the city.
The mountain barangays of Cebu City are traditionally known for producing mangoes. The so-called Guadalupe mango is a misnomer because the barangay does not have many mango trees. It merely provided in the past the market where mangoes from the upland areas were sold or were these passed through.
But while the production of mango in Cebu is going down, the cut flower industry has the potential of growing bigger. Hopefully, with the attention given recently to a Sirao flower farm, the Cebu City Government will pour more attention to the industry and help it flourish.