Kenya is the world's largest producer of roses, and is good at producing new varieties in a variety of colors and forms. Many of the peculiar roses that refresh the eye come from Kenya. Kenya is located in the East African plateau, with an average altitude of more than 1500 meters, and the equator runs through the central part. Such a geographical location is quite suitable for the growth of roses and other flower varieties. Kenya is the fourth largest exporter of cut flowers in the world, and in recent years, the number of flowers exported to China has increased year by year. Let's take a look at Kenyan roses.
1. Introduction to plants
Kenyan rose (Rosa rugosa Thunb.): is a shrub in the family Rosaceae, Rosaceae; The plant is up to 2 meters tall; The stems are stout and bushy; twigs densely hairy, needle and glandular hairs, with thorns, pale yellow, covered with villi; leaflets 5, elliptic or inverted ovate, 15–45 cm long, with sharp pot teeth, glabrous above, veins sunken, folded, densely covered with villi and glandular hairs, pedioles mostly appendice, partially ovate, glandularly serrate, villous below; flowers with solitary leaf axils or several clusters; bracts ovate, bordered with glandular hairs, coat villi; sepals ovate-lanceolate, often with pinnate lobes into leaf-like lobes, sparsely pubescent above, densely pubescent and glandular hairs below; petals purplish red or white, aromatic, semi-double petals to heavy petals, inverted ovate; peduncle detached, coat, slightly protruding calyx, shorter than stamen; The rose fruit is flattened and spherical, brick-red when ripe, fleshy, smooth, and sepals resident.
2. Geographical superiority
Due to its location above the equator, Kenya receives the influence of monsoons every year, with both wet and dry flavors, and the rainy seasons are March to May and November to December, but the amount of rainfall varies from year to year. It is for this reason that every year the grasslands in Kenya lack vegetation during the dry season and abundant in the rainy season. In order to survive, herbivores on the grasslands must migrate to Tanzania in southern Kenya during the dry season, and return again during the rainy season to enjoy abundant food. This is the world-famous Great East African Wildlife Migration.
The highlands of central Kenya have high altitudes and comfortable temperatures all year round. The coastal areas are noticeably warmer, but the annual ocean breeze also makes the areas (Mombasa, Lamu Island and Malindi) quite comfortable. Mount Kenya is covered with snow all year round. In general, western Kenya is affected by a tropical rainforest climate, which is humid and hot; And northern Kenya is dry and hot.
Roses love light, sun, cold and drought, and do not need special protection in northern winter. As long as there is no big dry day, it can grow without watering (referring to ground planting). The soil requirements are not strict, generally more fertile soil can grow vigorously, flourish and bloom well. Summer fertilization should be diligent, every 15~20 days need to be applied, after fertilization
It should be watered in time to prevent burning of seedlings. Pruning should be done in autumn to prevent growth, affecting flowering and plant beauty. Rose aphids, pay attention to control. As a result, Kenya is blessed with a unique geographical advantage to produce a wide variety of exotic rose varieties.
3. Market status
In recent years, Kenya has actively developed the flower industry with its superior geographical conditions and has become the largest flower exporter in Africa. Kenya is the fourth largest flower exporter in the world. In 2017, the Kenyan flower market reached a record of $820 million, up 20% from the previous year. In recent years, China has become the fastest growing consumer market for Kenyan roses, and with the opening of direct flights from Kenya to major cities in China, Kenyan flowers have shown strong competitiveness in the Chinese market.
According to the China-Africa Trade Research Center, Kenyan roses are loved by consumers in cities such as Shanghai due to their large heads, long flowering period and bright colors. Now, the flower market in Shanghai, as well as the roses used by some well-known flower brands, are basically from Kenya. From picking, customs clearance and air freight, it only takes a day or two for fresh Kenyan roses to be delivered to Chinese consumers.
In addition, 38% of cut flowers in the EU market come from Kenya, and several European countries such as the United Kingdom, France, and Germany account for more than 70% of Kenya's cut flower exports, and more than 50% of Kenyan cut flowers still rely on the Dutch flower auction market to complete sales.
It is reported that during March and April 2020, the flowers of various farms in Kenya were piled up, and the slightly larger farms even had to discard more than hundreds of thousands of roses every day, seeing tons of flowers helplessly turned into compost, and the situation was almost described by the word "tragic".
The three- or four-month lockdown of European countries meant losses of more than $300,000 a day for Kenya, and the total loss in just a few months is estimated to have reached at least more than 100 million euros. Kenya exports 170,000 tonnes of cut flowers a year, totaling more than US$1.1 billion, but the coronavirus pandemic has ruthlessly destroyed nearly one or two percent of its flower sales revenue.
4. Main value
Roses are one of the world's famous ornamental plants and are commonly cultivated in gardens. The color of Kenyan roses is different from the vast yellow of Africa, and the variety of colors shows a unique style. White "mint", slightly verdant in jade white, cool and rhyme; The pink "morning dew", delicate and just right, warm and unassuming; The yellow "Fangling", like the girl next door, is smiling; The red "midnight", unpredictable, noble and proud temperament is particularly charming in the darkness.
Rose flowers can be steamed into aromatic oil, the main component of the oil is L-aromatic alcohol, the content can reach up to 6/1000, for edible and cosmetics, petals can be made into cake filling, rose wine, rose syrup, after drying can be made tea, flower buds into medicine to treat liver, stomach pain, chest and abdomen fullness and menstrual irregularities. The fruit is rich in vitamin C, glucose, fructose, sucrose, citric acid, malic acid and carotene. The seeds contain about 14% oil.
It can be used as hedges (impenetrable due to the large number of sharp thorns), dried flower specimens, planted on river banks, farmhouse gardens, sand, beach dunes for erosion control.
5. Breeding method
Kenyan roses can be propagated by cuttings and branching. However, the above breeding methods are more cumbersome, time-consuming and laborious, and the propagation of cuttings is not only limited by the season, but also limited by the material, which is easy to cause the waste of cuttings material. Beijing Open Source Agriculture is committed to the research and development and promotion of plant non-test tube rapid propagation technology, which uses plant "one leaf and one bud" as the unit material for propagation, with a survival rate of more than 85-95%, and has gained rich experience in plant asexual propagation technology, and has successfully reproduced more than 1,000 kinds of plants so far.
In order to meet the demand for Kenyan roses in the market, Beijing Open Source Agriculture has successfully expanded multiple varieties of Kenyan roses as early as 2019. Investors adopt the plant non-test tube efficient and fast propagation technology invented by researcher Li Changxiao to breed Kenyan roses, which will greatly reduce production costs, save time and improve the propagation rate of seedlings. Plant non-test tube rapid propagation technology directly cuts micromaterials from Kenyan rose mother plants during the plant growing season, inoculates and cultivates them directly into seedlings in earth sand beds or nutrient bags, without transplanting and bagging procedures, high purity, no diseases and insects, fast growth, full axillary buds, strong branching ability, developed root system, high quality seedlings, and can be supplied for production and planting throughout the year.