Jasmine turns too dear

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The ‘queen of fragrance’ sprang a surprise on customers in the city last week, with the prices touching highs and lows in a matter of hours. The price of jasmine, the most-sought after fragrance in the flower market, stood at Rs 600 per kg on Monday after touching a high of ` 2,000 on Saturday.  The worst-affected owing to the price rise were marriage parties, for whom jasmine flowers are inevitable for the celebrations. While a few opted for ‘Thulasi malas’, majority of the customers bought the jasmine garlands by paying exorbitant rates.  ‘’Though many of the marriage customers bought jasmine flowers for the bridegroom by paying between ` 5,000 and ` 8,000 on Saturday, they all chose other flowers like ‘pichi’ for the relatives,’’ said Sunil, the staff at a flower shop.     ‘’On Saturday, the prices went up as there were a number of marriage bookings on Sunday,’’ said Murugan, a vendor. The price came down to ` 1,200 on Sunday as there weren’t many marriages the next day, he said.       ‘’The fog, which started in the last couple of weeks, is affecting jasmine farming in Tamil Nadu. The prices are likely to go up for two more months,’’ said Murugan.The flower shops in Chalai, the largest flower market in south Kerala, are ordering less flowers as the demand has dropped. Jasmine flowers reach Chalai from the farms at Sankarankovil, Thovala and Madurai in Tamil Nadu.   ‘’Usually, on an average, around 100 kg of jasmine flowers used to reach Chalai every day. But the rising prices and the subsequent drop in demand has lowered it to 50 kg,’’ said  Saji, who owns two flower shops in the market.   Besides the mist, another reason for the rise in prices is the conversion of farm lands to wind farms, said Saji. ‘’Several farm lands in Sankarankovil and Thovala were bought by  entrepreneurs for setting up windmills. This too has lowered the production,’’ he said.