KOCHI: With festivities having commenced on Tuesday with the dawn of Atham, Keralites are on a frantic purchasing spree, with flowers being at the top of their Onam shopping list. For the next few days, colleges, government and private offices and cultural organisations will be organising Onam celebrations, with the main attraction being competitions for making the traditional ‘Onapookkalam’ or floral carpets. This is the most lucrative season for traders as Malayalees will be splurging on festive necessities these days.
However, the soaring prices of flowers during the festival season have posed a concern to both traders and customers. Though traders in the city buy flowers from Thovalai and Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu during Onam, the prices remain high due to heavy demand.
As Vinayaka Chathurthi fell on Wednesday, temple officials and organisers of festivities have been purchasing flowers in huge quantities, which has added to the demand.
During the past two festive seasons, marigold prices remained low as farmers in the district had cultivated the flower for the Onam market. However, many – including farmers in Karumaloor, Alangad, Kadungalloor and Veliyathunadu – did not grow the flowers this year as they had suffered huge losses due to heavy rains in 2024, resulting in the spike in prices. On Monday, Marigold was sold for Rs 250 per kg. The shop owners said the rates will remain high for the next couple of days.
“The farmers in Alangad panchayat were not keen to cultivate marigold this year as they had suffered losses last year. We have formed a 500-member farmers producer company where we are planning to create value-added agricultural products.
Only a few farmers have cultivated flowers and vegetables for Onam this year. These products are being sold at the Agrifest at Kalamassery from August 26,” said CPM Karshaka Sangham Alangad panchayat vice-president K P Mohamed Iqbal.
“We have cultivated marigold in a 10-cent plot and will be selling the flowers at the rate of Rs 200 per kg. My family has been growing flowers for the Onam season for the past three years. However, we could not cultivate them in huge quantities this year,” said Noushad, a cultivator from Chirayam.
At Thadiyakadavu in Veliyathunadu, a five-member Kudumbashree unit led by Faseeja cultivated marigold in 50 cents of land. “Last year, we cultivated marigold in 1.5 acres of land but there was no profit as the rain destroyed the plants.
We had to pluck the flowers in the morning and take them to Paravur where the traders gave us Rs 50 per kg. It was a bitter experience,” said Faseeja. Her friends Sainaba, Laila, Sunitha and Shamla had been tending the plants with care, expecting reasonable prices.