BELAGAVI:  A chilli farmer is worried – he doesn’t know what to do with his abundant crop. A lockdown to contain the spread of coronavirus has hit agriculture, the backbone of the economy. Green chilli, grown in abundance across 25 villages in Khanapur and Belagavi, is being dumped in the compost units. Every day about 300 bags of chilli arrive at Khanapur, of which only 100 to 150 bags are being procured while the remaining produce is dumped.

Farmers say they are not getting the money spent on transport. Instances of farmers dumping their tomato crop into bins, destroying cabbage in the field without harvesting them have become common sight post the lockdown.

A drastic fall in demand for the perishable crops is expected to hit the farmers hard at the end of the lockdown.

Kodihalli Chandrashekhar, president of Raitha Sangha, said the state will face a `1 lakh crore loss in the agriculture and horticulture sectors due to the lockdown. He said these perishable crops produced in abundance in Bengaluru Rural, Kolar, Chikkaballapur, Tumakuru, Mysuru, Vijayapura, Belagavi and Bagalkot have no takers.

“The demand for many perishable crops and fruits has drastically fallen with the closure of hotel and catering industry. We are able to store crops like jowar, rice, cereals and wheat, which are not perishable. However, it may become difficult to avoid losses which the farmers may face owing to the falling demand for perishable crops,” said Joint Director of Agriculture Jilani Mokashi. Farmers of North Karnataka growing grapes, pomegranate, flowers, chilli, cabbage and various other crops are expected to face losses running into hundreds of crores.

A huge export of grapes from Athani region to various foreign countries besides in other parts of the country has come to a grinding halt due to the lockdown. And most of the standing crop across North Karnataka region is likely to wither without any takers if the lockdown continues. While estimating a loss of at least `120 crore for grape growers due to the lockdown in Athani region alone, Shahjahan Dongargaon, former MLA and a noted grape grower and president of Athani Raisin Processing Cluster, expressed concern over the damage the lockdown could cause to the perishable crops in the state. He said, “Grape fields were damaged due to water scarcity and soil erosion during the last rainy season.

However, the grape growers managed to handle the crisis and were able to produce large quantities of grapes to meet the demand,” he said. And those growing Jarbera flowers by taking huge loans from the banks are in great trouble with demand for their produce falling rapidly. Sangappa Tangadi of Hulagbali village in Athani taluk who has grown Jarbera flowers by constructing greenhouses in his two-acre land investing Rs 70 lakh, said, “I was getting a profit of Rs 20,000 after meeting all the expenses and labour payment. But my income is zero now. It is difficult to store or maintain the flowers. I have to sell them right now or face the losses.’’

WHERE ARE THE BUYERS?

Summer paddy crop in some 15 taluks of Tungabhadra region are all set for harvest but with neither labour nor transport nor promise of procurement available, farmers are a worried lot. “Summer crops in some 10,000 hectares like groundnut has no takers.

The lesser spoken of the plight of fruit and vegetable farmers the better. Government wants APMC yards open for farmers but where are the buyers? DCs impose restrictions that yards will function only between 8 am and 12 noon, but there are no or very few dealers,” said Maruti Manpade, president, Karnataka Prantha Raitha Sangha.

“To ensure farmers get at least some support, we roped in HOPCOMS to buy fruits and vegetables. There was a problem in supply chain the first week of lockdown but about 80% of it has been restored,” said Rajendra Kumar Kataria, IAS, Nodal officer for Supply chain management and commodities appointed in the backdrop of COVID-19. Meanwhile, the government has asked respective DCs to submit reports on crop loss.