Farmers from Sayar village earn income with dried petals of rose

Karjan taluka of the Vadodara district is known for the cultivation of flowers including Kashmiri roses. In Karjan Kashmiri and native roses are cultivated mainly in the villages of Sayar, Moti and Nani Coral, Pura, Deroli, Ranapur, Kothia, and Diver, and other villages.

The family of Mukesh Machhi and Roshan Machhi of Sayar village in Karjan taluka cultivate roses for generations. Out of 100 hectares of land in Sayar village, 90% of the land is cultivated with Kashmiri and native roses. In addition, farmers here also cultivate Mogra and Paras flowers.

According to Mukesh Machhi, roses have been cultivated in Sayar village for the last 30 years. He first earned income by drying rose petals and sold them in Kunjrav of Savli taluka when the price of roses went down during the Corona lockdown period.

The petals of Kashmiri roses are bigger and better than those of native roses so the quality of making Gulkand remains good. Kashmiri roses are more durable than native roses and weaving is done on the day. While weaving of native roses has to be done at night.

Yogeshbhai, a horticulture officer at Vadodara, said that the department provides subsidies per hectare to farmers for planting roses. It provides small and marginal farmers Rs.16,000 and large farmers at Rs. 10,000 as assistance for plantation. Farmers in the area sell Kashmiri roses in cities like Vadodara, Surat, Ahmedabad, Bhavnagar. Big traders send these rose parcels to metro cities like Mumbai and Delhi.

Vadodara office provided planting assistance to about 200 farmers for the cultivation of roses in 30 hectares of land.