Floriculture sector to get Dutch push

Farooq Ahmad Shah, Secretary for Tourism and Floriculture, met Houter Vealey, agriculture counsellor of the Netherlands for India and Sri Lanka, at the Dutch embassy in New Delhi today.
“The officials held threadbare discussions to explore commercial floriculture development avenues in Jammu and Kashmir, particularly the Valley,” said an official statement issued here.
“The counsellor was convinced that Kashmir had tremendous potential to become the hub for commercial production of cut flowers which are of the best quality and fragrance,” it said. “Vealey emphasised the production of tulip, lilium, lilly, rose, gladiola and other varieties and assured assistance in the form of technical and professional knowhow which will make Kashmir the centre of excellence,” it added.
The statement said the counsellor assured officials of greater cooperation to synergise relations between the Dutch and Kashmiris as it would result in major exports from the state.