Farmers in trouble as marigold prices crash due to bumper production in Arad village of Halol

According to a report by TV9 Gujarati, farmers in Arad village of Halol taluka in Panchmahal district have been prioritizing marigold flower cultivation over traditional farming for the last few years. Previously, due to high demand during festivals like Diwali, farmers used to earn lakhs of rupees in a single season from this crop.

This year, due to favorable weather conditions after the monsoon, there has been a bumper production of marigolds, which is much higher compared to previous years. Due to the high arrival of flowers in the market, a major decline in prices has been recorded.

Earlier, traders from Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and various districts of Gujarat used to come directly to the fields in Arad village and load marigold flowers into trucks. With the situation changing this year, farmers themselves have to fill trucks and take the flowers to the market, and due to not getting fair prices, some farmers have to return empty-handed.

Marigold flowers, which were sold at 80 to 100 rupees per kg in previous years, have seen their prices drop to just 5 to 10 rupees today. Due to such low prices, it has become difficult for farmers to cover the costs of fertilizers, seeds, labor, flower picking, and transportation.

Due to this situation, farmers are suffering a loss of approximately 50 to 70 thousand rupees per bigha. Unable to sell the ready flowers, farmers are forced to throw them away in open areas around their fields.

Farmers have stated that there is no organized market available for the buying and selling of flowers in the area around Arad village. The farmers have demanded that the government establish an APMC market facility in this area so that they can get fair prices and buyers at one place, and that financial assistance or appropriate compensation be provided for the heavy losses incurred this year.