NEW DELHI: The nationwide lockdown to combat coronavirus outbreak, which has already impacted the industry, may now hit India’s farming sector, which is likely to face losses due to disruptions in logistics and scarce labour in North Indian states.
The upcoming Rabi crop is estimated to be a bumper one despite untimely rains, with the cereal crop (wheat and rice) pegged to be 134 million tonnes. Disruptions in logistics and delays in bringing in the harvest due to labour shortage could mean part of this bumper crop would wither in the fields.
“Even more at risk is our horticulture crops … we grow 300 MT of horticultural produce. Andhra alone has 1 lakh hectares of bananas, with 70 per cent of the crop going to other states. However, transport problems at some places and refusal by wholesalers in places like Mumbai have meant huge losses,” said P Chengal Reddy of the Consortium of Indian Farmers Association. If the lockdown has created supply chain disruptions, it has also scared labour away.
Though 90 per cent of Indian farmers are small and medium farmers who use mostly family or local labour, larger farms whose crop mostly feeds cities require labour and hired machinery.
“Labour has become a major problem in North Indian states with many having gone back home because of the lockdown. Many mandis are not working and despite permissions, movement of trucks and combine harvesters is a big issue. These are challenging times. A late harvest will mean losses,” said Rakesh Tikait of the Bharaitya Kisan Union.
Farmers’ organisation have been asking states and the Centre to agree to use labour force from MNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) scheme in farms as an exceptional case, to solve the problems in the food supply chain, so that the crop comes in on time.
Late harvests mean a lower yield, exposing the crop to sun and rain, besides leaving a smaller time frame for preparing the field for the kharif crop. Supply chain problems also mean prices will shoot up. According to agricultural economist Dr T Haque, “Reports indicate that potato and onion prices have already shot up because of scarce supplies due to the logistics breakdown.”