Crops dry up, flower growers in distress

Ravinder Saini

Tribune News Service

Rohtak, June 14

Flower growers here are in distress as their crops have dried up following no demand of flowers. During the lockdown, curbs have been imposed on weddings, religious places and hotels.

The new season for flower cultivation is about to begin, but many of them are finding it difficult to come to terms with the losses.

“I had grown marigold, gladiolus and chrysanthemum flowers over five acres by spending more than Rs3 lakh. The harvesting of flowers started in March to meet the market demand in Delhi and various districts of Haryana. Flower supply had to be halted suddenly following the lockdown clamped on March 24,” said Ajit Singh, a farmer from Marodhi Jatan village here.

Ajit Singh said he was expecting that the lockdown would be lifted after two weeks, but it did not happen. The crops dried up in the field, he added.

Raj Kumar, another farmer, pointed out that March, April and May were the peak season for flower industry because of weddings, religious festivals and other functions during this time, but the lockdown had hit the flower growers hard this season. “I have suffered heavy loss,” he added.

Hawa Singh, District Horticulture Officer, said flower farming was done over 100 acres in Rohtak district. Marigold was the main crop while lily, rose, gladiolus and chrysanthemum were also grown.

“The flower growers had sold more than 40 per cent of their crop before the lockdown. The remaining crops dried up during the lockdown as they did not harvest those. Flower crops are cultivated twice a year and the growers used to earn attractive profit in the first season, that is from February to May,” claimed Hawa Singh, adding that distressed farmers were approaching his office for financial support.