Tamil Nadu - Udhagamandalam   

Flower growers seek assistance from government

Udhagamandalam: Flower growers have sought the help of the government to deal with the losses incurred by them in account of the recent rains and landslides.

In a memorandum submitted to the Union Minister of Communications and Information Technology A. Raja who represents the Nilgiris constituency, the Nilgiris Flower Growers Association has pointed out that the natural calamity has caused heavy losses to the flower growers.

With the Nilgiris being declared as an Agri Export Zone under the National Horticulture Mission and National Horticulture Board schemes many farmers had taken up cultivation of flowers as an alternative to tea and vegetables by taking loans from banks. In order to meet the requirements of the export market, green houses had been put up and expensive plants and bulbs planted.

The association claimed that in the recent storm about 30 percent of the greenhouses and standing crops had been severely damaged.

Owing to landslides, houses of agricultural workers were damaged and this has hit farm work. The growers are also finding it difficult to transport the crops they managed to salvage.

Pointing out that their survival itself has become a question mark, the association said that since they are totally dependent on their farms for a livelihood, the government should extend a helping hand by taking care of their bank liabilities and extending fresh loans.

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