Marigold bloomed but market slumped: Farmers abandon huge stock of flowers at Pune mandi

Across Pune’s Market Yard, one could see sacks full of marigold lined up and abandoned and some emptied on the road unattended. (Express Photo)

Sandeep Yeole, a trader from Pune, said, “Farmers have fallen for the videos on YouTube that promote marigold farming as a medium of minimum efforts and maximum profits. They didn’t anticipate that so much produce from so many villages would make it to the markets.”

Across Pune’s Market Yard, one could see sacks full of marigold lined up and abandoned and some emptied on the road unattended. In some pockets, people were seen filling their bags with marigold for free even in the presence of the farmers.

Eknath Thapade’s produce of approximately Rs 30,000 will go to the dump yard. (Express Photo)

Eknath Thapade’s produce of approximately Rs 30,000 will go to the dump yard. “We haven’t recovered even our transportation cost; not even the daily wage of Rs 300 given to each flower picker every day,” he said.

Another seller, Rakesh said, “Farmers sold some produce on the first day but the traders who bought it are now incurring losses.” Sheikh Mohammed Ali had bought 4.5 tonne of marigold from the farmers on October 22 at Rs 1 lakh 25 thousand but he said he couldn’t recover most of the cost.”