Arrival of flowers at the market on Sattara Street at Srirangam has dwindled in the past couple of weeks because of summer and lack of irrigation facility in villages.
Sattara Street is an important flower market catering to the needs of not only the retail dealers in the city but also the merchants in Ariyalur, Perambalur, Jayamkondam, and parts of Thanjavur and Pudukottai.
Apart from the quality in flowers, the multiple varieties in flowers are not to be seen.
M. Munirathinam, a dealer in “sevanthi” which is primarily cultivated in Thoppur in Salem district, attributes the poor yield to flowering season of the “sevanthi’ was nearing its end.
“There are three varieties of the species – white, yellow, and dark yellow. Commencing from Karthigai month in Tamil almanac, we get high yield till February. But, with the season coming to an end, the flowers wither away by the time they reache the Tiruchi market from Thoppur,” he said.
He has been incurring a huge loss as the flowers lacked lustre.
J. Govindarajan, who recently took to the trade, said that his daily turnover was just Rs. 5,000 now as against Rs. 20,000 in January. The arrival of jasmine at the market had been a source of support for his livelihood, he said.
He said he had to clear his stock by 8 a.m. daily to get the best price. It was also the time when a large number of retail dealers from other centres such as Jayamkondam bought jasmine.
“The price per kg is Rs. 200 in the morning but slides to Rs. 130 by afternoon,” he said.
V. Rangarajan, a dealer in marikozhundhu, said he had been getting the bundles from Manapparai. The flowers withered within a few hours in the morning because of severe heat conditions.
The business at Sattara Street has been subdued in the last few days because of the hot weather that not conducive for flowers, the traders added.
