Flower prices soar on eve of Varalakshmi Vratham

Gudimalkapura: The wholesale flower market at Gudimalkapur is seeing high number of visitors for the last few days. On the eve of Varalakshmi Vratham, the market was full of visitors from across the city.

Jasmine recorded the highest jump, costing double as compared to week. Vendors were charging Rs 80 for 50 grams on Thursday. Chrysanthemum was on high demand in spite of high cost at Rs 800 per kilogram. The other flowers that were also sought included Marigold, Rose and Lotus.

Praveen, chairman, Gudimalkapur Flower Market, said, "For the first time the wholesale vendors visited the farms and procured flowers as against the normal practise of cultivators bringing the produce to the market. We had to resort to this as the supply of flowers reduced."

He further added, "Mostly, the supply of flowers to Hyderabad is from Pune, Bangalore and Nasik. Due to inadequate rainfall this year, the production was low and then the demand increased thus prices are soaring. Any variety of flowers per kilogram is costing Rs 100 to Rs 150 higher than the normal in the market. "

"We are bound to flower business and are sticking to it blindly. There is no profit either for cultivators or for traders," says a flower vendor.

A kg of Chrysanthemum was Rs 650 to Rs 700 and the retail vendors at Srinagar Colony have been selling the same for Rs 800. Each Lotus costs Rs 40 which is triple the normal price.

Madhusudhan, ADE, Telangana Horticulture, said, "This is the usual trend during festivals. It's not just the flowers, even the prices of coconut leaves, coconut, pumpkin and lemon increase as they are widely used for puja."