Krishnagiri: Farmers in the district dumped nearly 2 tonnes of Jasmine flowers, valued at around ₹4 lakh, into the Sandampatti lake on Tuesday, after traders refused to buy them citing excess stock. With market prices crashing to less than ₹200 per kg, farmers said they were left with no choice but to dump the flowers. Just last year, the same flowers had fetched them ₹1,000 per kg.Jasmine cultivation is common in over 500 acres in Sandampatti, Kullampatti and surrounding villages in the district. A group of 20 farmers had taken their harvest to Bengaluru but were turned away by traders citing oversupply. Attempts to sell the flowers to a fragrance factory in Mettupalayam also failed, as the unit reported excess stock as well.We spent thousands on labour and fertilizers, but we couldn’t even recover the wages. I had to borrow money to pay workers,” said R Kumaresan, a farmer from Sandampatti. Another cultivator, S Lakshmanan, added, “Last year these flowers brought prosperity. This year, it has brought only debt and tears.”Farmers are now demanding government intervention. “We want a state-run fragrance factory at the SIPCOT in Pochampally. That will ensure our flowers are used productively and losses avoided,” urged M Selvaraj, a cultivator from Kullampatti, highlighting the volatility of flower markets and the urgent need for support systems to protect farmers’ livelihoods.
