Flower markets at Kolaghat, Deulti, Keshapat and elsewhere in Purba Medinipur, West Bengal, are well supplied this year and prices are within reach of middle-class buyers. On Saturday (24 October), the eve of Kojagari Lakshmi Puja, the markets were busy but buyers were not out of pocket, and growers were pleased that their flowers were selling.
Narayan Chandra Nayek, general secretary of the All Bengal Flower Growers and Traders Association, said the flower-growing districts had no serious floods this year, so output was good, and with ample supply prices are under control. During Durga Puja flowers other than lotus were somewhat dearer; that pressure has now eased.
Traders put a fresh lotus at 10 to 12 rupees. Loose tuberose sells at about 400 rupees a kilo and a bundle of 24 stems at 250 rupees. A rose costs 3.5 rupees, butterfly pea 60 to 70 rupees a kilo and balsam 40 to 50 rupees.
Loose red marigold costs 60 to 70 rupees a kilo and yellow marigold 100 to 120 rupees. A three-foot red marigold garland sells for 10 to 12 rupees and a yellow one of the same length for 15 to 18.
Traders Ganesh Maiti of Deulti market and Biswajit Nayek and Ananda Samanta of Kolaghat said sales are satisfactory with good supply, and no flowers are being thrown away. Unsold flowers mean losses for growers, and this year that worry is much smaller. Buyer Bimal Samanta said prices are a little lower than last year.
The report was filed by Rohit Paramanik of Ei Samay.
Photo: The flower market beside Howrah Bridge, Goutam1962 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0); representative image
Source: Ei Samay
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