THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With Vishu just days away, families will be busy shopping for new clothes and items for the ‘Kani’. Supermarkets have begun stocking up on food supplies for the festival feast.
However, due to the recent summer rain, there is a shortage of ‘kanikonna’, which is integral to the festival, say flower vendors. As a result, the prices of the golden flowers might shoot up in the coming days.
Flower vendors say the flowers are in limited supply due to climate change as the flowers now bloom earlier in March. They wither away before mid-April. Hence, the chances of getting the flowers during Vishu are slim.
“Unlike previous years, Vishu and Good Friday fall on the same day. Hence, we don’t expect much business this time. Demand is low for kanikonna, vegetables such as vellari (golden melon) and fruits like jackfruits and mangoes. Since the flowers wither away quickly after being plucked, we can’t stock them. The price of the flowers varies from `30 to `50 according to the demand and availability. The flowers got damaged in the summer rain. Thus, prices might be higher than expected this season. Though plastic kanikonna are also available in the market, they are no substitute to the beauty of the fresh flowers,” says S Sreekumaran Nair, general secretary of Trivandrum Florist Association.
The Kanikonna flowers are usually brought from places such as Punchakkari located on the outskirts of the city. Vinu M, a wholesale flower dealer in Chalai market says, “On the eve of Vishu, these flowers are brought from Palode and Nedumangad. However, they may not be available this Vishu due to the summer rain. If there is a shortage, we have to sell at higher rates. However, that will affect the demand as well.”
Flower vendors are also looking at options like artificial flowers made from plastic. “We usually don’t keep artificial kanikonna flowers. However, we might be forced to sell them due to the scarcity of the real ones. The demand for artificial kanikonna, usually imported from abroad, is also in great demand,” says Vinu.