display
Wiesmoor (dpa / lni) - Because of the sales ban in the Corona lockdown, horticultural companies, nurseries and florists in Lower Saxony are worried about their spring flowers.
Since, for example, primroses and violets are actually gradually available for marketing in specialist shops from the beginning of February, companies and professional associations expect thousands of flowers to be thrown away in the near future.
"The situation will worsen if the lockdown is extended," says the spokesman for the Lower Saxony Chamber of Agriculture, Wolfgang Ehrecke.
"Then larger batches would have to be disposed of."
The President of the North German Horticultural Association, Andreas Kröger, is therefore counting on opening the horticultural retail sector as soon as possible.
"I would like to ask politicians again to consider the peculiarities of perishable seasonal plants," he told the German press agency.
"Millions of flowering plants are available for the period from Valentine to Easter and are not used."
Unlike in other federal states, the sale of flowers in Lower Saxony is only allowed in food retailers, e.g. in supermarkets or discounters.
Currently in Wiesmoor, East Frisia, businesses that produce for specialist retailers have to compost thousands of houseplants that were not recently sold.
display
According to the Chamber of Agriculture, flower and plant production companies are an important pillar of Lower Saxony's economy.
The around 500 flower and ornamental plant cultivation companies with around 2,400 full-time employees generated production values of more than two billion euros per year.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210204-99-295081 / 2
Central Horticultural Association for the disposal of plants