UDUPI: There’s been a massive impact on Udupi’s jasmine growers after the lockdown. Cultivators would earn Rs 800 to Rs 1,000 per atte (local measurement), but are now dumping the flowers as there are no takers. Growers are forced to pluck the flowers because if they are left on the plants, growth is affected.
Accorded the GI tag about six years ago, Shankarpura jasmine are well known for their fragrance. Horticulture department sources said there are more than 10,000 jasmine growers in Udupi and in parts of Dakshina Kannada district. Traders have completely stopped buying flowers now.
William Machado, a jasmine grower from Shirva, said he and other growers are plucking flowers, but are not stringing them. Udupi District Farmer’s Association president Bantakal Ramakrishna Sharma, also a jasmine grower, said the lockdown has come as a big challenge, as there is no income.