The Hindu : Front Page : Not a rosy future for jasmine growers

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Apr 29, 2007
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Not a rosy future for jasmine growers

R. Krishnamoorthy

TIRUCHI : Jasmine growers at Kulumani, Ettarai, Koppu, Somarasanpettai and Elaimedu and surrounding villages in the district have been affected by the vagaries of market.

They seek facility for preservation of the produce and efforts for exporting it by air so that price fluctuation could be stabilised.

According to cultivators, the returns are so uncertain since the procurement price varies between Rs.20 and Rs.60 per kilogram though there is not much variation in the quantum of produce.

The commission agents who procure the produce and supply the flowers to the market at Srirangam and Gandhi Market decide the procurement price on a day-to-day basis.

Though jasmine plants will last for 10 years if maintained well, the cultivators face difficulties on two major counts. One is the cost incurred towards maintaining the farm and the other is paying farm labourers for plucking flowers.

Farmers say that a tidy sum has to be spent on nurturing the plants. They also have to pay the labourers at the rate of Rs.60 for women and Rs.70 for men as daily wages.

On most days, they have a break-even situation and quite often face losses. The days when they get satisfactory returns are very few and far in between.

They are surprised by the steep fluctuation since the retail buyers pay almost the same for the flowers on any given day.

But then, there is pretty little they could do about the market conditions, of course, until the government machinery steps in with a regulation mechanism.

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