KOCHI: For fruit and vegetable farmers and wholesale dealers who braved the back-to-back floods and Nipah, the future looks bleak. The Covid-19 induced lockdown and its effects such as closed state borders, absence of labourers and public dependence on commodities with a longer shelf life have contributed to tremendous losses.
Recently, truckloads of summer fruits such as watermelon were disposed of at the Nettoor wholesale market while tonnes of GI-tagged Vazhakulam pineapples await harvest in fields. As for the ripe ones, they lie orphaned at the markets.
“Undeniably, this is the worst time for farmers and wholesale dealers. Usually, around this time, we eagerly await Vishu which sees huge sales of fruits and vegetables. With the virus outbreak and the lockdown, we have no choice but to dispose of the ripe, plucked fruits as they’re rotting away in this heat,” said Gopakumar Nair who works at the Nettoor market.
Vazhakulam in Muvattupuzha, home to the largest market of pineapples in Asia, wears a bleak look. Supposedly, the best season for the fruit, the market usually generates business worth Rs 1,000 crore with its prime markets being Delhi and Mumbai. This time, however, more than 100 tonnes of pineapples await the harvest. “The other day, Horticorp decided to collect 20 tonnes of pineapples from us and sell it in kits. Nevertheless, there will a surplus. Our major export centre was North India. With closed borders and police restricting loaded trucks, business is almost nil. This largely affects farmers who’ve taken huge loans,” said Thomas Varghese, president, Vazhakulam Merchants’ Association.
The scenario is rather discouraging. Augustin, who works at the Vashi Market in Mumbai, told Express that four loads of pineapples arrived at the market after two weeks. “Usually, we are sent 20 loads. More distressing is the fact that we’ve no takers even for these four loads. People barely leave their homes. Hotels and fruit juice stalls have shut down. Ramdan is nearing but I’m not hopeful about the situation,” he said.
According to Baby John, president, Vazhakulam Pineapple Growers Association, the decline in sales began around the festival of Holi. “Markets in North India wee closed during the season. Right after they commenced sales, the lockdown was imposed. Trucks that left with tonnes of pineapples to Delhi weren’t even allowed to unload. Several are left stranded in these states. However, now that the Centre has declared that farmers and the supply chain are excluded from the lockdown, we’ve some hope,” he said.
Jackfruits, Kerala’s pride, suffer a similar circumstance. “I have around 300 people depending on me. Albeit, several of my lorries carrying these fruits to Uttar Pradesh and Delhi are stuck in a few states. On average, 21 tonnes of the fruit is sent. But the last load that was sent to these markets from our collection point in Kalady was on March 20,” said V K Jose, managing partner, VKJ and Sons, Angamaly.
Disruption can prove detrimental
James Joseph, founder of Jackfruit365, however, warns the consequences of disrupting the supply chain of fruits and vegetables. “WHO says the consumption of fruits and vegetables must increase -- it is the only defence against the virus and it increases the immunity level. If the supply is disrupted, it will affect non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, as people will depend on rice and wheat, which elevates the consumption of starch. Farmers suffer today, but our citizens will suffer tomorrow. If pro-active measures aren’t taken, we may lose our battle against the virus,” he said. “Since movement is restricted to and from the state, the Kerala Government could work on redistributing jackfruits in the state. Jackfruits are primarily used as vegetables and we have an excess of the same now. Once the government takes it up and redistributes it to various houses or to certain points, the losses could be reduced” he said.