Millions of flowers destroyed by farmers across India for lack of demand
By
Travis Rigby
PostedApril 5, 2020
Flower growers dump lilies amid lack of demand during COVID-19 lockdown a farm in Sohna, Haryana on Tuesday. Photo/ PTI New Delhi: Brightly coloured roses, chrysanthemums, lilies, marigold and other flowers that might normally have been destined for marriage decoration and temples — are now being destroyed by growers in unprecedented manner as the rapidly spreading coronavirus brings demand to a standstill. When people are seemingly keen to stockpile essential food items, flowers are the last thing on their mind. Also, flower wholesale markets across the country are shut because of the 21-day lockdown announced to prevent the spread of coronavirus, affecting thousands of growers and traders associated with the floriculture business. Currently, the government has given exemption from the lockdown rules for movement and distribution of only essential vegetables, fruits and other food items but not flowers. "In such a situation, there is no option but to destroy. The survival of the industry is going to be tough as flowers are not essential commodity," Bengalure-based floriculturist Bollapally Srikanth told PTI. Bollapally cultivates flowers like Rose, Gerbera, Carnation, Anthurium and Gypsophila in greenhouses in 35 acres land in Tubagere in Doddaballapura taluk, Bengaluru rural district. He employs about 250 labourers. Srikanth, who distributes flowers across the country, has estimated about Rs 10 lakh per day loss due to the lockdown as he begins to dump millions of flowers in huge skips. Sharing similar plight, another grower Prakash Chandra Shukla from Sidhi district, Madhya Pradesh said: "I have cultivated rose, marigold and dahlia in 3 acres to cater for festival demand of Ram Navami. Now I cannot sell it in the market due to the lockdown. I am feeding it to livestock and making compost". Shukla, who has incurred a loss of Rs 1 lakh from his flower crop, said some people may want to buy flowers for doing puja at home but it would be difficult to supply in the wake of restriction on movement and social distancing. Arjun Singh, a grower from Rohtak, Haryana, said lily flowers grown in 6 acres are ready for sale but are now […]
