Barwari is the founder of Kurdistan Flower – a company that grows and imports flowers.
He started his business 13 years ago with a shop, importing and selling flowers. He said that he has faced problems importing flowers from abroad, especially in Turkey because of the name of his company.
“Airports in Turkey cause many problems for me because the name of my company is Kurdistan. They were at times saying that they had a corpse to transport and couldn’t therefore transport my flowers. They were delaying my imports by a week, which harmed my business because flowers are delicate and cannot last for long,” he said.
When he first started importing, he was buying flowers from Iran and Turkey. These days, he is bringing them from The Netherlands, Ecuador, Colombia, and Kenya.
Two years ago, he built a garden to grow roses.
“I want to build the biggest rose farm in Iraq. It will cover 20 acres of land. As a test and a first trial, I have planted roses in a 4,000-square metre plot of land which I have rented,” Barwari said.
He picks 1,500 to 2,000 roses in his garden and sells them to florists in town every day. He also exports to Mosul and Baghdad. His goal is to sell 200,000 roses monthly.
Across Iraq, the demand for roses is about 400,000 monthly. Barwari said he would need $3 million if he were to build a farm that could monopolize the market.
According to statistics produced by the directorate general of gardening and forests at the Ministry of Agriculture, nearly 7 million seedlings and roses are imported to the Kurdistan Region. This means a lot of cash is sent abroad for roses.
“After my project is finished, I will be saving Kurdistan $3 to $4 million which is sent abroad every year for importing roses,” Barwari said.
The biggest problem facing agriculture and farming businesses in the Kurdistan Region is selling their produce. But Barwari is not discouraged because he says he already has the confidence of consumers.
He says his roses are larger and longer lasting than imported blooms.
“We have tested our roses. They can stay fresh for 18 days without needing chemicals, whereas chemicals are used on roses imported to Kurdistan. They stay fresh for no more than a week,” he said.
Barwari said his homegrown flowers will be cheaper than imports.
“The worst quality imported rose costs 34 cents and the best $1. The ones I have planted sell for no more than $1 abroad, but I will sell them for 50 cents or less to traders,” said Barwari, who gets orders for his roses from Iran, Jordan, and Lebanon.
