Back Anthurium prices set to rise 20% on short supply
| Growers unable to meet surging demand; production stagnant |
G.K. Nair
Kochi, Aug 13 Demand, of late, for anthurium flowers with no corresponding growth in production is pushing up the prices. The growers association in Kodagu, the main producing area in the country, is now set to raise the prices by 20 per cent from October 1.
“The demand for anthurium flowers is very high and we are unable to meet the local demand not to speak of export,” Mr T.V. Gopinath, a planter and founder President of Coorg Anthurium Growers Association, told Business Line.
Cultivation costs up
The investment needed for setting up a unit was very high, he said.
The cost of cultivation has gone up substantially to around Rs 60 lakh per acre from Rs 35 lakh per acre three years ago, he said. The price of the planting material covered 75 per cent of the total project cost, he said.
Although a green house is beneficial, the cost would go up by another Rs 15 lakh.
According to him, a grower could easily get a 40 per cent return on investment every year. Besides, the Union Agriculture Ministry gives a 20 per cent subsidy on the total project cost through the National Horticulture Board.
Mr Gopinath said he had set up a new unit with 80,000 plants involving a total investment of Rs 1.5 crore. From this, he could harvest 5 lakh flowers a year and all of them had been sold in advance to a single buyer at an average price of Rs 14 a flower ex-farm.
“We have internal demand for another 100 acres and 100 acres for export. The demand for anthurium flower can best be judged by the fact that our dealers for Coorg Anthurium cut-flowers have increased their purchase price,” he said.
Major buyer
“We have an anthurium growers association and we interact regularly with our buyers and we fix minimum price for each grade and members are required to sell at the fixed price or above but not for less; this way we protect growers’ interest and unhealthy competition. All are happy and the system works as the association is of good standing. We have more than 60 members now, when I started we were only 14,” he said.
The flower had, of late, become an essential item for decorating marriage halls and the demand for the flower was surging across metros, he said.
The marriage industry is a major buyer of anthurium flowers.
The demand prevails for 10 months a year, except July and August, said Mr T.V. Gopinath, a Kodagu anthurium grower.
Commercial crop
The shortage has reached such a stage that some have been using a single stem on more than one occasion, as the shining quality of the flower lasts for three to four days, he said.
Though no data is available, the total production is estimated at around 100 lakh flowers. The demand for the flowers is around 50 million a year in India. The global export is put at around three billion flowers a year.
If anthurium is grown across 100 hectares in the country as against the present estimated area of 30 acres, there would be a production of 45-50 million flowers, of which 30 to 40 per cent could be exported, he said. The Netherlands is a major supplier of anthurium, followed by Mauritius. The main markets are Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Australia, Japan, Taiwan, Russia and the US. The retail price per stem (flower) was $5 in the US, he said.
Given the upbeat scenario, anthurium can be cultivated as a commercial crop for both domestic and export markets, he claimed.
Demand
According to Mr Gopinath, the demand for anthurium has grown by 38 per cent between 1999 and 2002 compared with rose and carnation, which saw an 18 per cent growth in demand during the same period. Anthurium is one of the top 10 cut flowers sold at the Netherlands Auctions.
The cultivation in the country is currently confined to Kodagu, a very small area in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Goa and in a small part of Maharashtra, he said.
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