Shortage of workers hit food processing units in S Guj

Surat: The food processing units in Valsad and Navsari are unable to start operations despite bumper mango crop this year. This is because of shortage of manpower and the low supply of mangoes from the orchards.
Sanjay Naik, who owns a canning unit in Gandeva village of Valsad says, “I require 300 metric tonne of mangoes for pulp, but I may get only 60 tonne. This because the traders and workers from Uttar Pradesh are not coming due to lockdown and the harvesting of mangoes is yet to begin.”
There are about 250 small and medium sized canning units in South Gujarat and majority of them get their mango supplies from Navsari and Valsad.
Chairman and managing director (CMD) of Patson Food Pvt Ltd, Suraj Savaliya said, “We require 2,500 metric tonne of mangoes, but this year we will get only 700 tonne. I have tied up with a few farmers in Valsad to bring the fruits directly from the orchards.”
To add to the woes of the farmers, the APMC in Valsad has been shut due to the lockdown. The mango traders are provided alternative place on the highway, but they are not willing to shift.
“We can’t take risk of shifting on the highway. We purchase mango from UP traders, because they do everything from plucking to transporting mangoes to the yard. Farmers can’t bring mangoes to the market on their own,” said Ravindra Mishra, a mango trader in Valsad.
Chairman of Valsad APMC, Arvind Patel said, “The crop is bumper this year, but there are few hands to pluck the harvest. Mango traders are not willing to shift to the alternative spot on highway and farmers are not getting the workers and traders to pluck the harvest.”