According to the association, the price of marigold has been fixed at Rs 40 per garland while the price of simple Makhmali has been fixed at Rs 20 per garland so that there remains no confusion about the prices.[break]
“If anybody is found to be selling the garlands over and above the price we have fixed, we will take action against them,” said Arun Chhetri, president of FAN.
Due to a prolonged monsoon this year, the production of flowers was hit, leading to import of marigold flowers from India. However, Chhetri said the price of flowers has increased only by Rs 10 per garland compared to last year. The demand of marigold garland for this Tihar is around 300,000 while the domestic production capacity is 150,000.
FAN is importing around 70,000 Marigold garlands in order to fulfill the demand of flowers during Tihar.
The price of Makhmali flower has remained constant at Rs 20 per garland as the demand for this flower is met by local production but the price of Makhmali garland may go higher than Rs 20 for improved design to make the garland beautiful.
Chetteri also informed that they have received complaints that some Indian businessmen have stored the flowers in cold stores since the beginning of this week. “We are yet to check if they are selling it for a higher price,” said Chhetri.
The association has requested the customers to buy locally produced flowers as far as possible during Tihar as they last longer compared to the imported ones.
Flower expo concludes
In the Fifth National Hrysanthemum Flower Competition, Fair and Exhibition jointly organized by Agribusiness Promotion Program under Department of Agriculture and Floriculture Association Nepal from October 21 to 23 at Jawlakhel ground in Lalitpur, Samjhana Nursery won the first prize. Arun Nursery won the second prize and Jay Kishan Nursery the third prize while Ajima Nursery got the consolation prize.
Tirtha Bahadur Maharjan, proprietor of Samjhana Nursery, told Republica that he is very proud to be the winner for the second consecutive year. “All the competitors were judged on the basis of maintenance and management. We maintained the criteria like same size, similar variety and our plants were fresh. Maybe due to this we were announced as the winner,” said Maharjan.
The exhibition which had 31 different stalls with different hybrids of Chrysanthemum flower received footfall of around 16,000 visitors.
“We received a huge crowd and we were able to sell plants worth more than Rs 1.2 million during the exhibition,” informed Rojleen Maharjan, program chief of the exhibition and competition.
Related story
With Tihar just a week away, govt suspends import of Indian mar...
