Grower News

Covid-19 destroys flower growers dream, no demand for the blooms. -NSTP / courtesy of farmer CAMERON HIGHLANDS: Next week was supposed to be a promising time for P. Viswanathan as orders for fresh flowers will usually pour in for the Tamil New Year. Covid-19 destroys flower growers dream, no demand for the blooms. However, unlike the previous years, the 58-year-old flower grower was forced to leave the precious and colourful blooms to rot as there are no buyers following the Movement Control Order (MCO) due to the Covid-19 outbreak. To make matters worse, the father-of-four said some growers including himself had invested to harvest extra flowers next week as usually there will be a surge in demand due to the Tamil New Year celebrations on April 14 along with other festivals. "This is the first time majority of us are in such a crisis. Every year, during the month of April, growers will be busy cutting the flowers and packing them to be picked by wholesalers. It has been very quiet this year. "Flower shops and temples are closed,and there are no weddings. Since the flowers grown in my farm is only for domestic use, the pandemic has brought my business to a standstill," he said when contacted. Viswanathan, who grows chrysanthemums on his 4.8ha farm, said while most of the farmers were losing thousands of ringgit daily, they could not afford to close the farms totally. "At my farm, we used to supply about 80 boxes of chrysanthemums daily to all over the country, each box contains 30 dozen flowers. These days we can only allow the flower to rot before cutting and throwing them away. "I have about 15 workers and I have to pay their salaries. We cannot close the farm or retrench the workers as the flowers have to be maintained for the next harvest. Farming is a continues process," he said, adding that he was forced to dig deep into his savings to pay his workers. Viswanathan, who manages the farm with his 26-year-old son, said he hopes the government would provide some initiatives […]

Source: www.nst.com.my