Bifurcation blues hit cut flower trade in TS

Prices have gone up to Rs 7,000 a tonne from Rs 4,000

Hyderabad: Cut flowers (Roses) in Telangana have witnessed a sudden hike in prices thanks to bifurcation which has affected floriculture market in the state.

Cut flowers which were available Rs 4,000 a tonne (2.5 lakh stems) before bifurcation are now being sold at Rs 7,000 a tonne in the wholesale flower market in the city.

The sudden rise in the price can be attributed to the low supply of cut flowers from the Andhra Pradesh state after the state division, while local climatic conditions are not favourable to grow.

“Before bifurcation, 60 per cent of the cut flowers were supplied by the Andhra region, now the supply has declined to 10 per cent”, said Anil Kumar, KVR Flowers, Gudimalkapur flower market.

Interestingly, the flower farmers and suppliers in AP are more inclined towards Bangalore market than Hyderabad as most of the farms are owned by people from Andhra region. They also can access to the international markets, which pays higher price, from Bangalore, said industry sources.

Besides raising prices, the Hyderabad trader has to pay Rs 17,000 for every four tonnes of flowers imported either from Bangalore or Andhra region, which accounts for about 40 per cent higher than before.

“We are completely dependent on the Bangalore for import of cut flowers for the next three years, as the crop in Telangana region has been withered due to low rainfall”, he added.

Hopefully by that time, the local flower farmers could grow quality roses as the government plans to extend support with green-houses etc.

At present the prices in the retail market have also sky-rocketed due to low supply while the demand for cut-flower is maintained.

“The cost of the cut flowers depends on the order we are receiving, higher the number of strands better the price”, says a lady who manages the Lorea florist.

Meanwhile, in order to control the prices, Telangana government is now planning to establish an online trading platform soon.

According to Anne Ramesh, President, South Indian Floriculture Association, the industry body spearheading the cut-flower exports, revealed that the Telangana government is seriously working towards establishing the online trading platform at Gudimalkapur Flower Wholesale Market.

The association is already operating an online trading platform in Bangalore, which can be extended to Hyderabad also, he added.

The government has earmarked some land at the market yard and planning to set up cold-storage facility, according to horticulture officials.