The prices of the national flower of India will be very high this year during the peak season of Durga Puja festival due to huge losses in lotus cultivation after the recent floods in the south Bengal districts.

The lotus is cultivated in the districts of Bankura, East Burdwan, Birbhum, Howrah, East Midnapore and Hooghly. These flowers are not only sold in the state markets but also throughout the country and even exported to Europe and USA for Durga Puja festival, organized by the non-resident Bengalis.

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Talking to The Statesman, Aloke Mukherjee, Barjora MLA said today that due to the devastating floods in the Damodar after huge discharges of water from the DVC dams, this year the lotus and marigold flower cultivation in all the four Manar Chars have suffered huge damages. Manar Char is the hub of lotus cultivation in Bankura district.

“About 400 families are dependent on lotus and marigold flower cultivations in Barjora, Pokhonna, Maliara and Ghutgoria Manar Chars in Barjora block. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee has visited the flood affected area here recently and the administration is assessing the loss. We have estimated that this year there will be a production loss of about 50 to 60 per cent of lotus and marigold in the Barjora block itself,” said Aloke Mukherjee.

MP of Bankura, Arup Chakraborty said that the lotus cultivation in Sonamukhi, Taldangra, Simlapal, Raipur, Kamalpur and Chatna blocks have changed the fortunes of the flower cultivators in Bankura district since the past few years. Two varieties of lotuses are cultivated here, pink and white.

“Most of the lotus cultivators here acquire the ponds on lease on an annual or monthly rental basis and harvest around one lakh lotus flowers and buds annually. A piece of lotus was being sold for about Rs 5 during the Durga Puja festival in the wholesale market in previous years. Flowers are sent to wholesale flower markets in Bankura, Durgapur, Burdwan, Mullick Ghat in Kolkata, the largest wholesale flower market in Asia and many other faraway markets in South India,” said Arup Chakraborty.

He added, this year the wholesale traders in Kolkata have planned to purchase additional lotuses from Bengaluru at a comparatively high price to meet the shortfall of the demand from local cultivations.

Though the lotus cultivation starts from the month of March and April every year, the flower starts blooming from the month of July to October. Some farmers also keep the flowers in the cold storages to avoid damage and risks, but the flowers of cold storages have lesser demands compared to the fresh pick-ups. The peak demand period of lotus flowers is during the Navaratri, Durga Puja, Dussehra, Lakhsmi Puja and Diwali festivals.

To add further salt to injury, a few lotus farmers while plucking the buds have also been bitten by cobra, which have surfaced after the floods.

There are around 45,000 Durga Pujas organised throughout West Bengal, but the maximum demand of the lotus flowers is on the day of maha Ashtami.

“This year, we are staring at huge losses in lotus and marigold flower cultivation. Due to loss in production, each lotus flower is now selling at Rs 10 in the wholesale market and the Durga Puja organisers, who need bulk purchase for entire puja days will have to cough up double the amount spend on flower budget, compared to previous years,” said Tarun Roy, former gram panchayat member of Pokhonna Manar Char.

The kash phool, which announces the arrival of Durga Puja in the air and the Sarkathi (a large variety of grass and is required in Saraswati and other pujas) which grows on the banks of Damodar river Manar Char are also badly damaged due to the inundation by flood waters.