CAMERON HIGHLANDS: Next week was supposed to be a promising time for P. Viswanathan as orders for fresh flowers will usually pour in for the Tamil New Year.
Covid-19 destroys flower growers dream, no demand for the blooms.
However, unlike the previous years, the 58-year-old flower grower was forced to leave the precious and colourful blooms to rot as there are no buyers following the Movement Control Order (MCO) due to the Covid-19 outbreak.
To make matters worse, the father-of-four said some growers including himself had invested to harvest extra flowers next week as usually there will be a surge in demand due to the Tamil New Year celebrations on April 14 along with other festivals.
"This is the first time majority of us are in such a crisis. Every year, during the month of April, growers will be busy cutting the flowers and packing them to be picked by wholesalers. It has been very quiet this year.
"Flower shops and temples are closed,and there are no weddings. Since the flowers grown in my farm is only for domestic use, the pandemic has brought my business to a standstill," he said when contacted.
Viswanathan, who grows chrysanthemums on his 4.8ha farm, said while most of the farmers were losing thousands of ringgit daily, they could not afford to close the farms totally.
"At my farm, we used to supply about 80 boxes of chrysanthemums daily to all over the country, each box contains 30 dozen flowers. These days we can only allow the flower to rot before cutting and throwing them away.
"I have about 15 workers and I have to pay their salaries. We cannot close the farm or retrench the workers as the flowers have to be maintained for the next harvest. Farming is a continues process," he said, adding that he was forced to dig deep into his savings to pay his workers.
Viswanathan, who manages the farm with his 26-year-old son, said he hopes the government would provide some initiatives to offer some relief to the flower growers whose livelihood and daily operations have been badly affected by Covid-19.
Meanwhile, S. Ragesh said 70 per cent of the flowers here were for domestic supplies while the remaining 30 per cent was exported to Thailand, Singapore, Japan and Hong Kong.
"Vegetables farmers are also affected but not as badly as flower growers. People say that flowers are for both happy and sad occasions but not this time. Looking at the situation, farmers might be forced to dump the flowers which will be harvested for Mother's Day celebration next month," he said.
Meanwhile, Cameron Highlands Floriculturists Association president Lee Peng Fo said carnations, chrysanthemums, sunflowers, roses and other flowers have been greatly affected resulting in farmers suffering loses.
"There is no demand for the flowers so we have to cut and throw them. We remain clueless on how long the situation will persist since the government has decided to reopen selected business sectors, I hope we will be on the list.
"We have salaries to pay, families to feed and other expenses so please consider our plea. Despite no sales, we continue working on the farms to maintain the existing flower buds," said Lee, who operates a six hectare farm in Ringlet here.
It is learnt that farmers here had been anticipating brisk business next week as three festivals - Tamil New Year, Vishu for Malayalees and Vaisakhi for the Sikh community - will be celebrated on April 14 (Tuesday) and flowers will be one of the major items for these festivals.