SHUBHANGI SIFA
Ranchi, Feb 10: After a year of bad sales, quality rose farms in the state and around the nation are finally recovering from the pandemic hit. Industry experts have predicted a 20 to 30 percent rise in rose prices this year. Also, thanks to Valentine’s week and Valentine’s day, rose sales have seen an increase all over the state.
Several farmers in Jharkhand grow a variety of roses, however, the roses imported from outside seem to be more in demand.
When asked about this, Mahendra Thakur, a nursery owner near Kutchery Chowk said, “Roses imported from outside the state are more in demand. A major reason for this is that roses from outside are shinier and also offer a large variety in terms of colours. Around 30-40 different colours of roses may be imported from Kolkata, Pune and Bangalore.”
Ramu, owner of Ramu Malakar in the Main road said, “The sale this year is lesser than last year. The demand had decreased. Along with this, the increased rates, that are because of the price hikes from the farms itself, may also affect the sales.” About asking for Jharkhand roses, he added, “Roses imported from outside the state are comparatively cheaper than roses sold from farms in the state. This is weird as import costs should make the roses from outside costlier, but it is the other way round.”
‘Roses in Ranchi are supplied from Bangalore, Pune and Kolkata. At the local level, roses are also supplied in shops from Nagdi and Pithoria. However, there has been a shortfall in the supply in the market since December due to damage to the crops due to rain, this might have affected the overall price of Jharkhand roses,” said Rajesh at Ramu Malakar.
Nishant Soni, owner of several Expressions outlets in the city said, “In India, the Valentine’s fever lasts up to 7 days between February 7 and February 14. This time is considered the peak of the period, however, because the rose season basically begins in November and continues till March, we are still hopeful.”
‘Vendors have also said that business has been affected after Corona. ‘Earlier, where on an average each businessman used to earn one to 1.5 lakh during Valentine’s week, now it has come down to 50-60 thousand. January did not include many auspicious days and we saw a dip in sales but February is seeing a huge increase due to an increased demand fueled by multiple auspicious days for marriages. Roses are in major demand during the wedding season and Valentine’s Day period,’ Soni added.
“Last year, we saw record sales with the highest price Rs 30 per stem. The average among the varieties of roses was estimated to Rs 15. However, this year, we as flower shop owners are expecting lesser sales due to the higher rates, but they believe they will be able to make up the difference. Experts say prices of roses also differ from stem to stem based on the quality of leaves, height of stem and width of the rose,” said Rajkumar Mehta, owner of R K Nursery in Kutchehry.
“Currently, roses are being sold for Rs 15 to 40 per piece. We are expecting another hike in the prices within the next few days as Valentine’s Day approaches. This year, the pre-ordered bookings are way less than what we saw last year. The maximum number of sales whether on rose day, chocolate day or teddy day have been due to last-minute orders,” said Manish, owner of the Ferns and Petals outlet on the Main road.
Meanwhile, many people have started ordering bouquets. All types of bouquets are available in the market including bouquets of flowers ranging from roses to lilies, carnations, orchids, etc; however, maximum orders are for rose bouquets. “Prices these days for rose stems vary from Rs 25 to 40, while a rose bouquet may cost Rs 300 to Rs 500,” Manish added.