The Impact of Floricultural Industry on the Environment in Ethiopia

Floriculture is one of the booming sectors in Ethiopia and a good way of generating income for both the owners and the government. Besides this, different environmentalists complain about the industry because the industry uses too many pesticides and chemical fertilizers which damage the environment. The objective of this paper is to review the ecological implication of floriculture industries on surrounding environment. Environmental implication of floriculture involved the intensive use of water as well as soil, the water, and air pollution because of its intensive and toxic chemical usage and waste disposal system of the industries. The flower industry uses, 90% of groundwater resources. As planting media 40% uses soil bed, hydroponics 30% and the rest 30% also used both planting media. The waste is discharged directly to the water body by 30% of the farm, and 40% are a drain to the land. The land use change is also visible, 30% of the farm is established on local farmer's area, and 40% are established on state farm area, and the rest 30% is established by removing the swampy area. Therefore, to assure the environmental sustainability of the booming projects of the floriculture industry. Different environmental protection strategies were developed and recommended to improve the problems. As wastewater recycling, Wastewater treatment, Vegetation Buffer preparation, integrated pest management (IPM) practices, Health, and safety training to workers, and application of Strategic Environmental Assessment/SEA/ are good practices to minimize the impact and For better, sustainable and conducive environment sake.