- THE FLORICULTURE VEGETATIVE CUTTING INDUSTRY 125
The 1990s saw cutting production move to the central highlands of
Kenya, the state of Morelos in Mexico, and Israel during the early part
of the decade and then later to Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Colombia.
The greenhouses built at that time were relatively inexpensive facili-
ties consisting of single-layer polyethylene attached to wooden or alu-
minum frames. The benches typically consisted of simple meshed-steel
atop concrete blocks or, in some cases, ground beds were used.
In the 2000s, cutting production expanded to new locations such as
Ethiopia, Uganda, Tanzania, and Brazil. An attempt was made at cut-
ting production in China for the European and North American market
(Beytes 2004), but the improper climate, governmental challenges, and
high transportation costs resulted in that facility being in operation for
just 2 years. In 2009, a state-of-the-art greenhouse facility was built in El
Salvador followed by another in Nicaragua in 2012. These greenhouses
are equivalent in quality to those typically built in temperate climates,
including irrigation water capture, treatment and recirculation to pre-
vent run-off from the facility. The greenhouses are constructed with
high gutters and retractable shade curtains for improved greenhouse
climate control, concrete floors, and well-engineered benches (Beytes
2013). The facilities are totally enclosed, so that once workers enter
the business, they stay within the greenhouse structure throughout the
day. Also, “street” clothes are not allowed in the greenhouses, so show-
ers and additional clothing are provided. These innovations have been
introduced to minimize the potential for introduction of viruses and
bacterial pathogens.
The Austral-Asian market for vegetatively propagated herbaceous
annuals and perennials is primarily in Japan, South Korea, Vietnam,
Australia, and New Zealand. The latter two countries have highly
restrictive plant-importation laws that have resulted in a relatively iso-
lated market that relies on domestic cutting production. China is also
isolated due to their lack of enforcement of plant patents and plant
breeder’s rights and the difficulty with importing cuttings from abroad,
although some producers have recently established licenses with strate-
gic partners to propagate vegetative crops. Stock-plant production has
recently been introduced in Sri Lanka for the Japanese market. Future
production for the Asian market is also possible in the highland areas
of India and possibly Nepal. The climate of Southeast Asia is too hot
for most temperate-zone species, but some tropical perennials are pro-
duced there.
International trade barriers inhibit or prohibit the free shipment of
plants amongst countries and sometime even within regions of the same
country. Most typically, quarantines are in place to protect the domestic