Low-key Onam hits farmers in Mysuru, Chamarajanagar

Weeklong Onam celebrations in Kerala, which normally bring cheer to flower growers and vegetable farmers in neighbouring Mysuru and Chamarajanagar districts, has turned out to be a damp squib this year with demand for their produce plunging due to the Covid-induced restrictions.
The imposition of weekend lockdown and restrictions on celebrations in Kerala has hit festivities and farmers are feeling the pinch.Onam will be celebrated for 10 days from August 21. People usually decorate their houses, offices and firms with rangoli and flowers and cook a variety of vegetarian dishes.
Anticipating a surge in demand during the festival, flower and vegetable growers in Chamarajanagar and Mysuru normally grow a huge number of flowers like marigold, chrysanthemum and others, besides truckloads of vegetables. But this year, over 3,700 floriculture farmers, who together cultivate more than 2,800 hectares in the two districts, have suffered huge losses. Some of them grew flowers and vegetables as intercrops along with sugarcane, but special orders have slumped and demand for their produce is lacklustre.
“Usually, hundreds of trucks carrying produce from APMCs in Mysuru, Gundlupet, Chamarajanagar, Nanjangud and Hunsur head to Kerala, but this year only pickup vehicles are carrying produce across the border,” said Mahadeva Swamy, an APMC commission agent in Mysuru.
Kurubur Shanthakumar, a farmer leader, said flowers require heavy investment and growers are reeling under losses due to restrictions on weddings and entry in temples for the past year. “The government should come up with alternative measures to ensure marketing facilities, cold storages and transportation logistics,” he said.
But Rudresh, district horticulture official, said flower processing units in the two districts are open and growers can supply to them.