For the first time, the price of jasmine touched a new high of ₹ 4,000 a kg at the Madurai Flowers Wholesale Market on Sunday.
The merchants attributed the high prices to poor arrivals on account of incessant rain and logistics issues which discouraged small and marginal farmers from transporting their produce.
According to Ramachandran, a leading flower merchant in the market, ever since the pandemic broke, the price of jasmine and other flower varieties, including rose, was volatile. Even during the peak wedding season, the price of jasmine revolved around ₹2,500 a kg.
However, due to continuous rain in the recent days, the yield from jasmine fields is low. Many jasmine growers have complaints of water inundation for long on their fields and as a result the flowers had withered. Similarly, rose and other varieties also had very poor arrivals due to these factors.
The farmers said that normally they would bring in close to 30 tonnes of flowers to the markets and due to the rains, the yield was less thn half the usual arrivals. Because of poor supply, the price of jasmine has touched a new high in the flower market.
With wedding season coming to an end and the month of ‘Margazhi’ set to start in a couple of days, the merchants were happy to sell the produce at ₹4,000 a kg. Though the number of buyers are limited, the traders were able to sell the produce, Mr. Ramachandran said.