However, the COVID-19 lockdown has condemned the costly blossoms to be turned to compost in fertilizer pits. Across farms in Kerala, tonnes of commercially cultivated flowers and ornamental foliage lie heaped up in lonely corners for unceremonious disposal. Orders dry upMadhu Sankar, who grows orchids and ornamental foliage in five acres at Navaikulam, near here, says he is burying flowers worth lakh of rupees every week. He has to remove the harvest periodically to salvage the plants and allow for fresh blooms. They had readied the beds, dug artificial ponds for irrigation, set up sprinkler systems and imported new varieties of orchids and ornamental plants at considerable cost.

Source: The Hindu April 06, 2020 17:57 UTC