DINDIGUL
Despite Kerala celebrating Onam, flower growers from in and around the district have expressed concern over the poor sale of seasonal flowers here on Saturday.
With just two days more for the Onam festival, flower markets and vendors from different parts of Kerala, who used to procure at least 20 tonnes of seasonal flowers over the last one week or 10 days as a mark of the celebrations, had not lifted the produce in a big way.
“Just about 5 tonnes of flowers has been despatched till yesterday,” said Ibrahim, a flower grower here.
The price of seasonal flowers, which was around ₹ 180 to ₹ 200 per kg last year, had dropped to ₹ 80 per kg this season.
Farmers from Ammapatti, Vellodu, Narasingapuram, Perumalkoilpatti, Nilakottai and Pugayilaipatti who had grown flowers extensively were in a state of shock as they had ended up in a huge loss.
“We expected the merchants to come and buy for the Onam festival in Kerala... but, everyone had attributed the COVID-19 pandemic as a reason and that the festivities were happening in a lowkey way there...” they added.
There were also seasons in the past, where the vendors from Kerala took the flowers directly from the fields as and when the harvest was completed.
The flower market here too wore a very thin crowd on Saturday as local vendors were hesitant to procure as many temples were yet to open in a full-fledged manner.
With the COVID-19 pandemic taking away all the charm behind the festivities, the flower merchants here had a shock when the civic authorities announced the closure of the flower market here citing the virus spread.
The corporation-run flower market will remain closed with immediate effect and as an alternative, vendors can use the space in Kamarajar bus stand.
The corporation flower market, which can accommodate all types of vendors on the campus, has now been moved to the bus stand, which was functioning as a makeshift market. It doesn’t have any infrastructure, the merchants added.
