Lockdown hits earnings of veggie farmers in Jharkhand

RANCHI: Hundreds of vegetable farmers in different districts, including Ranchi, are facing losses owing to lack of wholesale buyers coupled with the hassles of securing e-passes to visit cities or mandis in neighbouring states. With the pandemic now gripping the hinterland, the rural economy, yet to recover from last year's nationwide lockdown, does not have support from the state government, which has failed to facilitate proper markets for the farmers.
Many are staring at stare at an uncertain future at a time when the unemployment rate in the country has doubled during in the last three months, according to the weekly figures released by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) recently. As per CMIE’s latest figures, the unemployment rate in the week ending May 16 was 14.45% of the total workforce, double the 6.63% recorded on March 14.
Among farmers, growers of watermelon are the worst hit as tonnes of their produce are lying unsold. Estimates suggest that 680 metric tonnes of watermelons are unsold in Khunti and Gumla districts alone.
Rajesh Oraon, a farmer in Khunti’s Torpa block, said, “I sold my buffalos to plant watermelon on 20 acres of land. While the yield was encouraging, there is no market for it at all. I am not even finding buyers even though I am offering the produce at throwaway prices. I don’t know how to cope with the losses.” Like him, many farmers who cultivated tomatoes and other seasonal vegetables are battling poor returns.
Ironically, e-NAM, a centralized open market platform launched by the Union government a few years back, is also failing to get buyers. Abhishek Anand, secretary of the agriculture produce market committee (APMC) under the state agriculture department, conceded the problems. “Last year, we managed to sell tonnes of fruit and vegetables of our local farmers through this portal. This time, the situation is different. There are hardly any buyers and traders are not keen to invest,” he said.
Jharkhand Janadhikar Mahasabha, a conglomeration of different rights body, has asked the state government for immediate intervention by urgently fixing MSPs of all crops. In a statement, it said, “The Jharkhand government should ensure no restrictions are placed during the lockdown for transport and sale of crops. Central and state governments should compensate farmers for their losses during the pandemic. Loans taken by farmers from local moneylenders, SHGs and banks should be waived off by the government and, most importantly, government must fix MSP for all crops.”