[Assam] Two Orchids from Assam

[Krishnendu Chakraborty]

WB, Karnataka and TN are the major exporters of flower
from India.  The flowers are exported to European
countries (including UK), Middle East, SA, Far East
etc.   The business get a lot of support from State
Government including  cold storage.    The State
Government in these states prefer not to wait for GOI
to do everything for them.


Phytosanitary  certification  from India are
recognized in US and that's how Indian Mangoes are now
being imported in US. However,  the last I knew was
there is just one lab in India.

I must say that the orchids are beautifull but the
beauty has been magnified manifold by the eye behind
the lens.

>It is a very complicated issue Uttam.

>Orchids are very special plants. Their cultural
>requirements are very 
>demanding. You can keep them alive and even make
>them grow well out 
>of their natural habitats, but you may not be able
>to make them 
>bloom. Kopou-ful ( Rhynchostylis retusa)  is almost
>impossible to 
>bring to bloom, even in a simple green house like
>ours. It needs 
>precise temperature , humidity and brightness of
>light conditions 
that can be replicated only in a very sophisticated
greenhouse.

International laws prohibit collecting, owning,
selling or exporting 
of orchids from their natural habitats. Only
commercially grown 
orchids can be exported or imported. And to import to
the USA the 
exporter must be able to furnish proof that:

A: It is commercially grown and can be certified in
accordance with 
CITES regulations.

B: That the plants are not contaminated with organisms
such as fungi, 
bacteria or viruses. This is done by  producing  what
is called 
"phytosanitary certification" from an accredited
laboratory.

Among the many orchid producing countries of the world
India and 
Bangladesh are the only ones that I know of that do
not have lab. 
facilities that would be recognized by the USA. So no
orchid export 
takes place, legally, from India to the USA.


Incidentally, almost all but the rarest of rare or
endangered orchids 
that grow in south Asia can be purchased from many
orchid growers 
across the USA, Europe, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore,
Taiwan etc. 
They are not even as expensive as some of the hybrids.
The reasons 
are several:

A: Orchids from Assam and the surrounding region are
what is called 
"species" orchids--not hybrids. They are pure. But
they are not easy 
to care for, have stringent cultural needs.

B: As showy as our orchids are, the flowers are short
lived, compared 
to many orchids from other regions.

The two orchids whose pictures I posted here will
last, at most,  two 
weeks. That is nothing compared to some or hybrid
Dendrobiums  or 
Phalaenopses or Cymbidiums or Oncidiums that routinely
last two to 
three months. BTW some varieties of the latter two
grow in the wilds 
of Arunachal as well as the Khasi Hills. The only
cymbidiums we see 
in the Brahmaputra valley are those that grow on the
trunks and 
branches of huge trees  that produce little and
not-so-attractive 
flowers on long pendulous growths. These are called
Cymbidium 
pendulata. Even though these are not showy, they are
sought after by 
breeders for cross breeding to produce more attractive
hybrids. But 
they are extremely difficult to bring to bloom in
temperate climates. 
I have had a large plant for years, but no flowers!

Commercial orchid growing, both as cut flowers as well
as plants have 
a great potential in Assam,. But transportation and
cold storage for 
flowers and CITES and Phytosanitary certification for
export are the
road-blocks, as they always have been.

Few things change in India as you well know.












At 2:34 AM +0100 4/10/08, uttam borthakur wrote:
>The magic of the green fingers. It is simply
glorious.
>   
>   Chandan Da, is there any easy procedure for taking
seeds, saplings 
>etc. from here to US on demand from friends/
relatives or it has to 
>be a covert work?
>
>Chan Mahanta <cmahanta at charter.net> wrote:
>   Sorry I sent the message without the picture. Here
it is:
>
>
>
>
>Here are two glorious orchids from Assam in bloom in
our living room.
>
>The yellow one on the left is Dendrobium fibriatum
and the white one
>with the yellow center is Dendrobium farmeri. Both
are widely found
>in the Khasi Hills and cooler areas of Assam as in
Upper Assam.
>
>cm_______________________________________________
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>
>
>
>Uttam Kumar Borthakur
>
>       
>---------------------------------
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