No flowery touch to Cupid tales in COVID-19 season

Heaps of Gerbera thrown in the farm of Srikanth at Tubugere in Doddaballapur taluk.

The high-value carnataion flowers have been reduced to fodder in the farm of Srikanth at Tubugere in Doddaballapur taluk.

Heaps of Gerbera thrown in the farm of Srikanth at Tubugere in Doddaballapur taluk.

The high-value carnataion flowers have been reduced to fodder in the farm of Srikanth at Tubugere in Doddaballapur taluk.

There are many tales of love in the time of COVID-19, but it is not reflected in the lives of floriculture farmers whose produce was a key ingredient of such passions.

As the lockdown put an end to celebrations, the floriculture sector in Karnataka whose annual turnover is estimated at about Rs 500 crore, is staring at tonnes of flowers withering away in the last few days.

Karnataka is one of the top five states when it comes to floriculture with data from the National Horticulture Board showing close to 32,000 hectares under flower cultivation.

Apart from Bengaluru, Kolar, Chikkaballapur, farmers in several arid districts of north Karnataka earn their livelihood by selling cut flowers and lose flowers.

However, over the last one month exports have seen a gradual fall while the lockdown put an end to all the sales as marriages, festivals and other celebrations had to be cancelled.

Horticulture Department joint director M Vishwanath, who is also the Managing Director of International Flower Auction Centre, said rose, chrysanthemum, gerbera, orchids grown in poly houses account for most of the exports while lose flowers are sold in the local markets and neighbouring states.

“Farmers cultivating in poly houses spend about Rs 1.2 to Rs 1.5 lakh per acre every month as regular maintenance of crops. These are plants that require regular maintenance as any delay means the farmer has to start from zero by investing in new plants,” he said.

Officials in the department said the annual turnover from floriculture is estimated at about Rs 500 crore. “It is the livelihood of lakhs of people, most of whom are not even included in our statistics. Since flowers are not essential commodities, the sudden end of trade means they have nothing to do, but dump their flowers,” a senior official said.

Srikanth Bollapalli, a floriculturist from Tubugere in Doddaballapur taluk, said he was throwing away flowers worth Rs 10 lakh every day.

“I have a poly house on 35 acres, of which 10 acres is leased land. I have to pay the monthly lease fee of about Rs 50,000 per acre. On top of it, I spend Rs 1.2 lakh per acre for fertilisers, labour and other inputs. My monthly revenue has down come from Rs 80 lakh to near zero,” he said.

The tale of small farmers is much worse, said activist Anjaneya Reddy from Chikkaballapur. “ People may buy some fruits and vegetables. But who has time for flowers,” he said, adding that the government was yet to take note of the situation.

An official from the Indian Institute of Horticulture Research noted that the lockdown will also affect lakhs of labourers who work on such farms.

“Though the peak season for floriculture is December to February, the sector employs lakhs of labourers for several months in a year. The lockdown in India and other parts of the world will wipe out most of their jobs for the next two months,” the official said.