Mexican peasants from the Tixtla Valley, in the southern state of Warriorprepare the sale of the cempasuchilthe traditional flower to commemorate the Day of the Deadbut they face inflation, rains and plagues, so there are those who think about abandoning that activity.
From the road that connects with Chilpancingothe capital of Guerrero, you can see the yellow and red fields of the cempasúchil or tapayola flower fields, and the velvet or pachole flower.
But at the same time there are dozens of abandoned lots that in other years also flourished at this time.
Gaudencio Flores, 78, has dedicated a large part of his life to producing the flower of the dead, but now he contemplates abandoning the sowing due to the scarcity of inputs and his age.
In addition to the arduous cultivation of flowers, to which he spends between three and four months, he does not own the land, so he must rent it for 8,000 pesos a year, during which time he only achieves two harvests.
Many of us are going, including me, I am going to stop working, I am going to hand over the land to the man for the same reason, that many people, it is no longer a business, many of us are old. We already gave everything,” he told EFE.
Some flowers of the Gaudencio plants have grown completely, so they must be cut so that they do not damage the rest, with which chains are made that cost only 5 pesos (25 cents of a dollar), since several days are missing for the Day of the Dead, on November 1 and 2, nobody wants them.
Not even the chamba (work) comes out, even so they are sold even if it is to survive, to buy the soda, the tortillas, that’s where it comes from, “he said.
hopeful after pandemic
Alberto Cipriano Locena is 71 years old and since he was a child he has also dedicated himself to planting.
This year he expects the sale to be good after the Covid-19 pandemicbecause there were many losses and also the supplies became more expensive, such as dust to fumigate.
He said that at this time the flowers are almost ready, so they require a lot of care.
The cempasuchil gets water and the tomb and leaves it black, the water does a lot of damage. Rain, but not so much, for example right now we no longer want it to fall, it turns black, “she said.
He added that, with the rain, pests reproduce faster and they are currently facing a new one that they did not know about, so they do not have the exact cure, which forces them to spray every third day or at least every week.
The ravages of inflation
The producers of the flower of the dead are also affected by inflationwhich in the first half of October reached an annual rate of 8.53%, including a rise of 15.09% in agriculture.
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Mario López Cortés has only been producing flowers for six years and he agrees that medicine, as they call the liquid used to fertilize, is the most expensive.
Currently, they surround the crops with raffia, a thread so that the wind and rain do not topple the plants or break them.
In the case of velvet, he explained, sowing is finished in July and the process takes four months, while cempasúchil takes three months and its sowing concluded in August.
Producers wait until the last moment to agree on prices and for everyone to go with the sameOtherwise, some would lose. Last year the roll of both flowers reached 80 pesos, a price that they consider “very good.”
Preserve the tradition
The plants remain in the fields and are cut as soon as a producer arrives to buy so that they are not mistreated.
It is also necessary that the sale be at night so that the climate of some regions does not damage them.
In addition to selling in the market, Tixtla is one of the largest producers of flowers for the Day of the Dead in Guerrero, which is why buyers come from municipalities such as Iguala and Acapulco, as well as from the state of Morelos, who are mostly resellers.
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