ith Pongal festival fast approaching, the harvesting of ‘samanthi’ flowers chrysanthemum is in full swing in villages in Omalur block in the district. The villages of Theevattipatti; Mookkanur; Gundukkal; Kongupatti; Karuvalli; Kanjanayakkanpatti; Pannapatti are the major samanthipoo growing centres in the western districts.
A large number of farmers have raised various varieties of samanthipoo such as ‘chandni,’ ‘white poornima,’ ‘pink poornima,’ ‘yellow poornima,’ ‘nattu samanthi,’ and ‘white Rajamalar’ in hundreds of acres in these villages.
These farmers were raising the flowers using water from wells, and borewells for the last three years.
As the district received good rainfall in the recent months, ground water level has gone up helping farmers to increase the acreage. The ‘samanthipoo’ season usually commences in August. The heavy rain experienced in the district damaged the plants in about 50 per cent of the area.
The fields of the farmers who had adopted organic methods to raise the plants, however, escaped the fury of the rain.
At present, the flowers have fully bloomed. As a majority of the flower fields in the above villages are situated on the Salem – Bengalur national highway, the fields are a cynosure of all eyes.
The nearby Poosaripatti flower market, a major flower market in the western region, is getting heavy loads of samanthipoo in the last few days. Traders from Bengaluru, Chennai, Hosur, and Madurai have been thronging this market. More than ten tonnes of flowers are marketed through the Poosaripatti market daily.
On auspicious Wednesdays and Thursdays, the quantity gets doubled.
K. Kannan of Theevattipatti, who has raised all varieties of samanthipoo in six acres along the Bengaulur highway is a happy man, as the flower plants raised using organic techniques stood the onslaught of heavy rain during November and December.
The harvesting is in full swing now.
The flower price which stood at Rs. 140 a kg at the Poosaripatti Market before the New Year Day has come down to Rs. 90.
The flower farmers are safe this season, as the samanthipoo was fetching a meagre price of about Rs. 30 a kg during the last Pongal season.
He expects the price to go up to Rs. 150 a kg as the Pongal day nears.
The traders, particularly from Bengaluru and Chennai, are making direct purchase from the gardens itself.
The traders at Poosaripatti Market say that about 50 tonnes of samanthipoo will be marketed every day here from January 12.
