India: Flower shortages ahead of Onam celebrations
To make things worse, the heavy rainfall in Bengaluru has affected the consignment of flowers heading towards Kochi and the rest of the state. "Farmers do not cut flowers during heavy rainfall as they wilt easily," said A M Sasi, who runs a flower mart at Pookaran Mukku on Jew Street.
Flowers for Onam come from Coimbatore, Bengaluru, Dindigul and parts of Andhra Pradesh. Thumba poovu (Ceylon slitwort) is one of the few flowers that are locally cultivated. Since it isn't grown excessively, there is never sufficient stock available in the market. To make things worse, most vendors in Kochi will not be selling the flower as Thumba has a very short 'shelf life'.
Read more at The Times of India