100% price rise for roses on V-Day

Were you late picking up that bunch of roses for your valentine today? Did you have to return empty handed from the flower store, or shell out a higher price

Were you late picking up that bunch of roses for your valentine today? Did you have to return empty handed from the flower store, or shell out a higher price? According to the Pune Flower Growers' Association, the demand remains high but the supply is far too low for the city this Valentine's Day.

Go, Grab those red flowers now: Roses are in short supply this Valentine's Day, and dearer too at over Rs 20 for one. representation pic

Last year around 10 lakh roses were supplied to the city on the day people celebrate love, while this year the figure stands at just about six lakh. This shortage has also doubled the price and a single rose might cost you anything between Rs 20 and Rs 30 this time.

Babaji Gadge of the Flower Grower's Association, Maharashtra, said, "On Valentine's Day last year, dealers sold customers roses for Rs 10. This year they have bought roses for that price, which means they will sell it at a much higher price."

He said there were various reasons for the shortage of roses, and that these were serious issues.

"The production of new variety of plants, mostly the red roses, is very less. Even the fertiliser prices have gone up, because of which many growers have stopped their business and many are getting fewer end-products," Gadge said.

Selling outside state
As farmers get higher prices from other states, many are sending their flowers there. There are very few growers and farmers who sell flowers within the state.

V S Jamma, chairman, Talegaon Floriculture Park Growers Corporation Society, said they sent a big chunk of their production to Indore, Delhi, Patna, Ahmedabad and many other cities in other states.

"We hardly sell within the state because, compared to prices in other cities, roses here are very cheap in Pune and Mumbai," Jamma said. "We can hardly make any profit, so it makes sense to send our produce elsewhere. This we do after studying the market for a year."

Mrunal Gokhale, owner of a store in the city that sells flowers, said they had bought roses for Rs 180 to Rs 200 for a bunch of 20.

"We are selling them for Rs 25 to Rs 30 because we have paid a large sum to buy them," Gokhale said.