Roses and the Economy

The rose has great economic value. In many countries where climatic conditions favor flower farming, the rose is a major earner of foreign exchange. In one African country, for example, out of the millions of flowers exported during one recent year, over 70 percent were roses, making the country one of the leading producers in the world.

In times past, before man discovered the flower’s alluring qualities, the rosebush grew freely in the wild. Today, through the use of carefully controlled methods of crossbreeding, some of the more than 100 species of wild roses have been bred to produce the thousands of varieties of roses known today. As a result, the flower has become known worldwide and is found in almost every country on earth. The most popular and widely cultivated is the hybrid tea rose.