Tipplers on high as mahuda prices crash

Chhota Udepur/Vadodara: In what could be good news for tipplers in the tribal belt of Chhota Udepur and Madhya Pradesh, the collectors of mahuda flowers are facing losses this summer.
A year after selling these flowers at a record price of Rs 70 per kg, the collectors are facing slump this year, helping Bacchus to relish their daily dose at a much cheap rate.
The prices of the mahuda flowers, which are used only for making country-made liquor, have been fixed in the open market this year between Rs 33 and Rs 35 for one kg. “The prices are decided by the traders so we have no say in it. We have to sell it at whatever price they say,” said Kina Rupla, a collector of Mahuda flowers from Lehvant village.
Rupla sells around 20 quintal of mahuda flower every year. Rupla added that many years ago, dried mahuda used to be staple food for their ancestors. “There were no grains then so our ancestors used to roast the flowers and eat them,” he said.
“Due to low price we will get less money this year due to which we will have to migrate to cities in search of job,” said another collector Ramsinh Rupla, who lives in Ambala village.
A trader from Devhant village Ratanlal Wani said that there is abundant stock from the previous year due to which the traders had decided to reduce the prices.
“Last year due to high demand in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, the prices were high and we even paid Rs 70 for every kg to the collectors. But even after addressing the demand, lot of stock has been left behind,” said Wani.
The low prices decided by the traders of Chhota Udepur are directly benefiting the tipplers in the tribal belt of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.
The lower price in the open market of Chhota Udepur are passed on to the organized wholesalers in Madhya Pradesh, who in turn are also selling the flowers to the small shop owners at lower rate after adding their profits and taxes.
“We add our profit, the rates of which are hardly unchanged and 5 percent GST and 2 per cent local tax,” said Bharat Rathod, a wholesaler from Kathiwadi in Alirajpur district of Madhya Pradesh. Rathod is in the business for 14 years.
Rathod said that if the collector of flowers is selling at Rs 33 to Rs 35 per kg, the end buyer would be able to buy it for anywhere between Rs 50 and Rs 55 per kg. “The end buyers take these flowers to their home and make liquor from it,” Rathod added.