Kathmandu, Oct 26: The heavy rainfall on September 27 and 28 has caused significant damage to the floriculture business. As a result, the price of Sayapatri or Marigold flowers is expected to increase during the upcoming Tihar festival.
Flowers that had just started blooming were damaged by the rain, resulting in a loss of around Rs. 150 million, according to Dilip Bade, chair of the Nepal Floriculture Association.
For the upcoming Tihar festival, 1.5 million garlands will be imported from India. Bade mentioned that last year the cost was Rs 65 to Rs 70 per garland but this year the wholesale price will be around Rs 80 to Rs 85 per garland.
This year, there is a demand for 700,000 marigold (Sayapatri) flower garlands compared to last year when 3.3 million garlands were sold during the Tihar festival. Of the total market demand for flower garlands 60 percent is in the Kathmandu Valley. There is a market demand for 4 million Sayaparti flower garlands for this year’s festival.
The Floriculture Association stated that although the market demand for this year’s Tihar festival is 4 million garlands, domestic production is only 2.5 million garlands. Market demand increases by 15 to 20 percent every year, but production only increases by 10% at most.
With the rising demand for flowers, flower farming has expanded to 52 districts including Kaski, Chitwan, Makawanpur, Kavrepalanchok, Gulmi, Palpa, Dhading, Morang, and three districts of the Kathmandu Valley. #marigold #nepal #rss #flower #tihar
