Kochi: Despite being off-season, there is a severe shortage of flowers in markets for the last couple of months. The heatwave-like condition in many parts of the state and Tamil Nadu has withered flower production and resulted in spiralling of prices.
“There is a huge drop in the arrival of flowers from Madura, Coimbatore and Bangalore among other places. Also we’re not able to procure flowers like chendumalli directly from farmers in places like Satyamangalam due to fall in production,” said A. M. Sasi of ‘Madhava Flower Mart’, Flower Junction, TD Road, Ernakulam.
The severe heat has resulted in increased damage during consignment which forced the retail vendors to increase the prices.
“The heat wave has affected the production of locally-made flower items too like jasmine, lotus and tulasi. Being off-season, usually a kilo of jasmine costs Rs 300, but we’re forced to sell the same at Rs 600 to Rs 800 per kg now,” he adds.
The situation is so grave that there are not enough flowers to meet daily demand in major temples, including Sabarimala.
“We’re finding it difficult to procure enough lotus flowers for daily ‘Pushparchana’ ritual at Sabarimala. There is also shortage of flowers being brought from Tamil Nadu like ‘arali’, ‘jamanthi’ and ‘thetti’ among others,” says a TDB official.
“Mainly we’re using ‘lotus’ and ‘tulasi’ for daily offering. Our bulk suppliers are bringing only half the actual quantity ordered. The price of ‘tulasi’ has gone up from Rs 50 to Rs 80 per kg. The sad thing is that the quality of flowers is very poor,” says T.C. Pramod Kumar, Upadeshaka Samithi secretary of the Thrikkaraka Temple, Ernakulam.
