Sunflower craze: Seeds not enough

Alot of people love sunflower. Especially the millenials, according to a flwer shop owner. Sunflower is the “in” thing for a number of good reasons. First, it is a big bold flower and much cheaper than roses.

A guy courting the girl of his dream can just give her one sunflower and that is good enough. It might cost just a hundred pesos or even less. That’s much less than the cost of a dozen roses.

According to Neo Wang of KnownYou Philippines which distributes sunflower seeds, they have run out of stocks previously. But the supply will be more adequate soon because the mother company in Taiwan has planted a lot for seed production.

The company distributes five varieties which are all saleable. These include Sunshine Orange with black center, Sunshine Orange with green center, Sunshine Yellow with green center, Miro Yellow with black center and Miro Orange with green center.

There are other seed companies in Japan and Europe that are producing sunflower seeds. But they have not produced enough for the market. Wang said that their varieties have an advantage over the seeds produced in the temperate countries. Theirs which are grown in the tropical climate of Pingtung inTaiwan are more adaptable to the tropical climate of Southeast Asia.

Sunflower can be profitable to grow for as long as the grower has the right marketing strategy. The seeds are fairly cheap that could be about a peso each or less. When grown to flowering size, the cut flower could fetch R25 per piece ex-farm. The flowers come out in less than two months so there is a short growing period.

One grower from Benguet revealed that at R25 per flower, the profit is already very substantial. Even if not all the flowers are sold, it is still profitable. Of course, some grow sunflower not for cut flower. They grow them in pots and sell them as potted plants at a good price.

Others plant sunflower in their leisure farms to attract paying visitors. One fellow who is planting flowers (sunflower and other species) to attract visitors is Mike Caballes of Bukid Amara in Majayjay, Laguna. He is a former president of Allied Botanical Corporation who opted to go on his own, specializing in flowers to attract farm tourists.

SUNFLOWER CRAZE – There is a sunflower craze in the Philippines and in other countries. The problem is that there is a shortage of seeds for planting. That is why Known-You Seed of Taiwan has planted a big number of plants for seed production. Photo shows Sahlie P. Lacson of Agriculture Magazine posing with the plants for seed production at the farm of Known-You Seed In Pingtung, Taiwan.