SAVING THE HARVEST

The lockdown has turned hopes of a bumper rabi harvest into utter gloom as the movement of labour and farm machinery comes to a halt. Reviving supply chains and a delayed crop will be the focus now

- AJIT KUMAR JHA

Barely a fortnight ago, rural India appeared to be brimming with hope and optimism. Rabi crops like wheat, pulses, oilseeds, vegetables and fruits such as grapes, pomegranates and even the early mangoes appeared ready for a bumper harvest across the country. Even the March rains and hailstorms in some areas in the north had not disheartened the farmers. Amid the slowdown, agriculture appeared to hold out a glimmer of hope for a revival of the economy.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the resultant national lockdown put paid to all that. Overnight, that earthy rural optimism has dissipated into deep pessimism. The three-week-long officially imposed lockdown--which has brought to a screeching halt the movement of agricultural workers, temporary farm migrants, and farm and related machinery such as combine harvesters, threshers, tractors, trucks and other equipment–has set off panic in the villages and fears of a rural distress return. If the lockdown remains in place beyond April 14, the entire rabi crop in most states, dependent as it is on migrant labour for procurement and farm machinery for harvesting, would be devastated. If the Kharif sowing season in May-June, which is 100 per cent dependent on farmworkers, ends up being disrupted due to the extension of the lockdown, the entire agricultural system in the country would be on the brink of a disaster.

PERISHABLES HIT THE HARDEST