With the price of marigold dropping to ₹10 per kg, small farmers in Talavadi block have now started cultivating other crops to earn their livelihood.
Most of the farmers in the hill area cultivate marigold in over 150 acres throughout the year. The flower fetches good price during the festival season, particularly from August to January, during the Ayyappa season in Kerala.
The flowers are bought by traders from the farmers directly in Talavadi and taken to the market in Sathyamangalam from where it is sent to various temples in Kerala.
M. Rajendran of Talamalai, who cultivated marigold in one acre, said that the inter-crop gives yield both in summer and winter for four months a year. “The yield in summer is good when compared to winter as mist affects the crops,” he added. He said that the price may vary from ₹ 5 to ₹ 25 per acre depending upon the demand and said that the price is not stable.
Plucking charges may vary from ₹ 140 to₹ 175 a day for a worker as increasing cost forced the farmers to turn to other crops. A trader M. Puthusamy of Talamalai, who is into the trade for 19 years, said that depending upon the demand, they will order for marigold with the farmers. He said that the price is fixed everyday in the market and there is no stable price.
Currently, there is an increase in cultivation of beans, cabbage, banana, chilly, and dry crops like maize and ragi in the hills. “Unpredictable market for marigold is leaving the farmers in distress as we have cultivated beans which give reasonable price,” said another farmer in the area. Farmers wanted a processing unit to be established so that the price remains stable throughout the year.
