UAE- Stop and smell some roses

Date

10/5/2015 8:33:49 PM

(MENAFN- Khaleej Times)

The Dubai World Trade Centre is drawing a diverse crowd this week. There are trade shows to fit the taste buds of a number of visitors. There's Gitex Shopper- the most keenly attended trade show. There's a lighting expo on - lamps bulbs etc. There's even a perishable goods show.

And for green thumbs and gardening enthusiasts there's a plant show on till October 7: The 10th International Plants Expo Middle East (IPM Dubai 2015). Although IPL is a quiet affair with several deserted booths but thanks to the plenty of roses on show there were a considerable number of visitors flocking to the kiosks from Kenya and Ethiopia and a few other countries that had predominantly displayed hybrid roses (with almost no fragrance).

One could though spot several varieties of different colours sizes shapes and names; one bunch of reds even called 'Upper caste' lighter shades called 'Tacazzi' - by definition highly saturated bright pinks.

Other plants such as Phalaenopsis orchids in exquisite arrangements were on display from Egypt and large leafy palms flown in from Taiwan.

MoEW goes organic

UAE's Ministry of Environment and Water too had set up a shop at Hall 3 sharing hall space with a fruit expo - with plenty of avocados and pineapples on display. No roses on display at the MoEW stall but they did have some pamphlets on display advocating the ban of genetically modified materials for agriculture and food processing. Most interestingly their pamphlets were trilingual - English Arabic and now even in Hindi.

Fatima Al Kalbani Acting Director of the Plant Health and Development Department at the Ministry of Environment and Water said of the region's 'only dedicated horticulture trade show' that the ministry is keen to promote agribusiness. "Our participation also is to learn from the experiences of other countries in the field of agriculture". Al Kalbani said the exhibition covers all aspects of the horticulture sector: greenhouses plant nurseries gardening centers suppliers of plants and flowers landscape and architects and contractors.

Besides being present at IPM other represents of MoEW were also busy brainstorming at a waste management programme coming up with solutions to manage the waste of UAE.

Why you should go to IPM

Go to see the roses. Linger on their names and sizes. One white bunch of roses is called Shivani. If you know anyone by that name take a picture send it to her. There's also a yellow bunch called Goldilocks in case you also have her/ him under G in your phonebook.

But the other marginally interesting sight is the Middle East Floral Display. A dozen floral designers have put their imaginations to use and have come up with massive somewhat artistic arrangements each presumably working on a different theme. Visitors can vote for their favorite. There's one called Desert Storm that has a whirling design on sticks and roses on sand. There's another that has purple orchids draped on a birdcage and two live parakeets in the cage while one other has a sitar in the centre. Yet another specimen of an arrangement has a reindeer for a focal point and some exquisite lavender proteas at its base.

Nivriti Butalia Nivriti writes features on turtles and fruit baskets and the importance of recycling your trash. She's been a features reporter back home in Delhi too and enjoys chasing the quirkier human-interest stories. She handles special reports about the environment education tourism heritage books and tweets at butniv. She's been in Dubai since Dec 2012

Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.