Ghazipur flower market blooms again
As one enters the Ghazipur flower market one can only see heaps of colourful flowers spread across the entire market, sprawled on over 15 acres of land and considered to be the biggest flower market in India. Rose, lily, mogra, marigold, orchid, chrysanthemum, rajnigandha — you name it, and the flower market has the flower of your choice!
The Ghazipur flower market, a wholesale market, is known for its extraordinary variety of flowers that is supplied from almost every possible location within India and even abroad.
However, the fragrance of these fresh flowers had disappeared for almost two years as the lockdown meant that not only were supplies affected, but there were hardly any buyers as people stayed indoors for several months, including the peak festive period.
Now, with the pandemic abated, at least for now, the market is once again overflowing with fresh flowers sourced from across the world and buyers throng, hoping to bring the fragrance of festivals in their homes once again.
The flower sellers say the festival and marriage seasons are very important as the demand is really strong at that time and each shop sells anywhere between 20-50 kg of flowers every day.
As the buyers keep coming in hordes, during this period, the flower sellers order larger quantities and store the unsold flowers in a cold storage room in the market in order to preserve them for up to 5 days at a time.
While common flowers like marigold and roses are in high demand all around the year, the flower sellers say they also organise rare and imported flowers, but on prior demand and confirmed orders.
“Demand for unique flowers is not so big, only those who organise big parties and weddings ask for these rare and imported flowers as they have much more money to spend. We get flowers from overseas like Thailand, Malaysia or even the Netherlands and New Zealand for them. These people provide us with a confirmed order in advance so that we can fulfill it within 4-5 days,” says Teg Singh Choudhary, a flower seller who is also an elected member of the governing body of this flower market.
The flower sellers say that during the peak period they can earn a decent living as they manage to earn a profit of about INR 15-20 per kilo of flower sold. “This is the most important period of the year for us as there is a lot crowd and demand. But once Diwali and marriage seasons are over then the crowd goes down and so does the demand for flowers,” says Choudhary, who has been in the business of flowers for over 25 years.
