Farmers growing flowers, including jasmine, sampangi and paneer rose, were seen abandoning the produce in dumper bins here at the wholesale flower market as they neither had buyers nor could preserve the flowers.
With the fortnight-long lockdown for the COVID-19 pandemic coming into force since Monday, the farmers have been trying to prevent their losses. In a bid to ensure that their livelihood was not affected, the government had given time for opening up shops till noon. After 12 p.m., the curfew comes into force till May 20.
Under such circumstances, there were takers for vegetables, milk and meat but not many buyers for procuring flowers like jasmine, rose and sampangi in the market, said Marimuthu, a flower grower from Nilakottai.