Cut flower auction started !
The cut flower auction centre, inaugurated here in February, started regular trading on Thursday. Deputy Director of Agricultural Marketing V. Ramanujam told 8,000 stems of carnation (decorative flowers) were auctioned for about Rs. 40,000.The cut flowers small farmers’ association from the Nilgiris had brought the flowers and these were grouped into six lots based on quality. Buyers from Kochi, Bangalore, Coimbatore and Udumalpet participated in the auction that lasted about two hours. The rate for carnation stems was Rs. 5 each in Bangalore on Thursday. The auction started here with Rs. 6 a stem and the lots were sold for prices Rs. 4.80 to Rs. 5.90 a stem, he said.
Currently, there was no registration or fees for the auction. The agricultural marketing department planned to organise auctions for cut flowers regularly at the centre, located at the Uzhavar Sandhai in R.S. Puram, on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays (three days a week). The rate would be based on the Bangalore rates and local farmers’ selling price.The auction centre had a cold storage (10 ft by 10 ft) that could store about 10,000 flowers. It also proposed to remodel it to accommodate more flowers.
