The vivid pink desi roses, which are used for practically all festivities and pujas, are conspicuously absent from most flower marketplaces in cities, while the price of roses has reached Rs.800 per kg in some cities.
Farmers in Charotar, where roses blossom profusely, continue to rue a succession of losses caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and, more recently, by the protracted, irregular monsoon.
According to Ghanshyam Chauhan of Rel village in Anand district, rose growers have experienced crop losses as a result of the region's high rainfall in October. "Just as farmers were emerging from the cycle of losses that began with the Covid-19 shutdown in 2020, with events cancelled due to the pandemic, the rain this year impacted yield. Fields that would normally yield 50 kilos of roses around Diwali have yielded only one kilogram this season," Chauhan adds. The majority of farmers in Rel village, which has around 50 bighas of rose farms, have been unable to cover their expenditures.
Farmers said that flower sales had been continuous for two months during the holy month of Shravan as well as Navratras, with prices reaching Rs.200 per kg. Following that, prices in major cities rose to Rs.1000 per kg.
Traders in Vadodara's flower market are storing roses for garlands, which are valued per piece up to Rs.100. Marigold garlands with roses in between sell for up to Rs.50 per piece. While marigold costs Rs.50 per kg, roses can cost up to Rs.500 per kg.
"Customers pick up a variety of loose flowers along with garlands that generally have marigold and roses, but this time we are unable to supply loose roses since they are excessively expensive," a trader adds. Prices in Vadodara range from Rs.400 to Rs.500 per kg, whereas in cities such as Ahmedabad and North Gujarat, prices may range from Rs.800 to Rs.1000 per kilo.
Baroda village in Matar taluka of Kheda district, around 40 kilometres from Rel village in Anand, contains over 400 bighas of rose fields. However, this year has been a letdown for farmers, with many skipping the rose season this monsoon. Kanu Rathod, a traditional rose farmer, has sowed castor seeds instead.
"Some of the rose farmers in the village have opted to skip a year or two after incurring severe losses owing to the Covid-19 shutdown. The second wave that arrived this year, as well as the warning of a probable third wave to coincide with the festive season, had us concerned... Many of us did not plant roses during the monsoon this year..." Rathod adds.
Traders, on the other hand, are optimistic that prices would fall over the forthcoming wedding season. "The rain has ceased, and the rose crop will produce blossoms for the entire year — up to six or seven years. Hopefully, by December, prices should drop as the wedding season ramps up until February...," a trader adds.
