Growing marigolds for the Tihar festival in Sunsari district

Arjun Bista, who has been growing marigolds for five years in Barahakshetra Municipality-6, planted the cultivar "Table Tennis" in the current season. According to him, the nursery plants brought from Kathmandu turned out taller and flowered less frequently than expected, yet the change of cultivar and agricultural practices made it possible to improve overall yield indicators compared to last year.

In the previous season, the farmer used more than ten katths of land, but suffered serious losses due to precipitation. Despite the damage to a significant part of the harvest, the surviving flowers generated a revenue of more than 200,000 rupees thanks to high market prices. The current weather conditions and the later onset of the Tihar festival cause concerns for the producer regarding demand and the storage of the harvest. At present, the price per kilogram of flowers ranges from 400 to 500 rupees.

Product sales are carried out directly from the farm to residents of wards 6, 7, and 8 of Barahakshetra Municipality, as well as to buyers from Dharan and Itahari. To local customers, the flowers are sold at a price 20 rupees per kilogram lower than the market price.

In addition, the producer spoke in favor of conducting timely quarantine control and tightening quality inspections of flowers imported from India. According to his observations, imported produce is delivered to the cold stores of Damak, Dharan, and Biratnagar about 15 days before the holiday for subsequent marketing, which prevents local farmers from receiving a fair value for their harvest. Regulating imports, in Bista's opinion, will help support domestic producers, create jobs, and attract youth to commercial floriculture.