Flowers are transported from where they are produced to the markets and between markets. The movement from production area to market is often less than 15 to 20 km, with the exception of growers in Nasik who send flowers directly to Bombay and of rose and jasmine growers in Midnapore who send flowers directly to the Calcutta market by the morning train. The movement between markets takes place primarily to bridge the gap between supply and demand for flowers in different regions. As noted earlier in the production chapter, imbalances between supply and demand remain as much of the flowers are still produced outdoors and agro-climatic conditions are not suitable for production of modern flowers nearby their major markets. The imbalance between supply and demand is reflected by the difference in prices and it is the price differential, which makes traders move flowers between markets. Three aspects of transportation are of interest. One, the sources and destination of flowers, which are moved between, markets. Two, the mode of transport used. Three, the method by which flowers are packed for transportation. First, we will examine transport of flowers by air.

Nearly 3,500 kg of flowers were estimated to be transported daily by air between the major cities in the country in 1987. This is likely to be an underestimate as some of the offices of Indian Airlines did not respond to our survey. The flowers commonly transported by air and jasmine, chrysanthemum, rose and flowers of high value, such as lilies from Kashmir. Four of the airline stations from which the flowers are shipped are Madurai and Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu, Bangalore and Srinagar. Bagdogra near Kalimpong was previously a major source of shipments before the industry was affected by the trouble in the hills. Jasmine is shipped regularly from Madurai and Coimbatore to Bangalore, Cochin and Bombay. Chrysanthemum is shipped from Bangalore to Bombay, Calcutta, Hyderabad and Vijayawada. Assortments of cool weather flowers from Srinagar are shipped to Delhi, Bombay, Chandigarh and Ahmedabad. Roses are sent from Madurai to Cochin. Small quantities of loose tuberoses also are shipped from Bangalore to Delhi. In addition to cut flowers, small quantities of live plants are also transported by air despite high costs of transportation. The two sources for the shipment of live plants are Srinagar and Bangalore and the destinations are Delhi, Bombay, Chandigarh, Calcutta and Hyderabad. Gladioli from Kalimpong are also shipped directly from Calcutta to Delhi. The cost of transportation by air is not very high compared to costs incurred for transportation even by buses from production centres to regional markets. The tariff for transporting flowers, for example, between Bombay and Delhi was Rs.3.85 per kg in 1987 (Indian Airline, 1986). And it was Rs.1.10 between Madurai and Bangalore. In addition, the shippers are given 30 per cent discount on some of the routes.

Flowers are also transported by road and rail over fairly long distances. The movement of flowers by trains and trucks over more than 100 km is been found. Trucks, tempos and buses are used for transportation between large cities.

Rose: The sources of rose shipments are Ajmer and Udaipur in Rajasthan, Delhi, and cities in Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Calcutta. The major destination for rose in Bombay. The other destinations are cities in Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Calcutta. The sources of supply of jasmine are cities in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and West Bengal. The major destination again is Bombay. There is also considerable exchange of shipments between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The other destinations for jasmine are cities in Kerala, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Orissa and Gujarat. For the rest of the flowers, the major sources of shipment are Pune, Bangalore, Coimbatore and Calcutta. The most frequent destination is again Bombay. The Bombay market receives chrysanthemum, gladioli, carnation, marigold and crossandra. Madras gets cut flowers from Bangalore and Kolar; Kerala gets chrysanthemum, marigold and crossandra from Bangalore, Coimbatore and Madurai. Cities in Bihar, Orissa and Uttar Pradesh receive tuberose and marigold from Calcutta.

(Flower Growers)