Several farmers have thrown flowers in canals of the Godavari River near the Kadiyapulanka Flower Market in East Godavari District because the products are not being sold across the state due to partial closures, simple weddings and temple closings.
The existing market scenario also had an impact on the import of various types of flowers from the southern states. The canals, especially the section of the canal adjacent to the flower market, are filled with the flowers unloaded by the farmers.
If farmers remain helpless in managing daily flower production in the fields, they have no choice but to channel daily production into the canals after noon when the curfew goes into effect and prohibits trading activity in the flower market.
Four tons unloaded
“In the past week, almost four tons of jasmine, lilly and marigold were thrown into the canals. The daily arrival of flowers from the six mandalas Kadiyam, Alamuru, Atreyapuram, Kottapeta, Seetanagaram, Rajanagaram, Ravulapalem and Mandapeta is around 10 tons, ”said Gangamulla Nageswara Rao, President of the Kadiyapu Lanka Flower Merchants’ Association.
According to statistics from the Florists’ Association, at least 20,000 farmers, including smallholders and tenants, are engaged in growing flowers on the six mandalas in East Godavari district.
According to Mr. Nageswara Rao, there is no buyer of flowers in the market because temples have been closed and weddings are planned without grandeur. In addition to the concerns of producers, the curfew is in place. The farmers were forced to throw the flowers that weren’t sold before the curfew.
Mr Nageswara Rao noted that even if the government offered some time relief in the flower market, there would not be much benefit as the consumption of flowers for various purposes had drastically decreased due to the prevailing scenario.
The farmers who grow Lilly could delay the harvest for a maximum of four days, but later the products would wither on the plant itself. However, jasmine and marigold growers must pick the flowers immediately after they bloom and market them within a day or two. The flower growers are affected by the spread of COVID-19 for the second time in a row.