Agriculture, Farmers, and Pandemic
- ARUSHI SHARMA
- Feb 9, 2021
- 3 min read
I still remember 24th March 2020 vividly, the day when The Prime Minister addressed the nation about the 21- days lockdown. With “Oh Shit!” as an immediate reaction, that was the day when I realized the adversity of the virus. This unanticipated confinement created a sense of bafflement and confusion amongst the citizens which resulted in stockpiling. The sudden increase in the demand for things not only increased their prices but also affected the availability of essentials for other people, especially the marginalized groups of the society. Amid CoronaVirus, the production and the market related to the agriculture and the food industry was deemed to be as one of the “essential services” and were not restricted in any state. However, there has been a disruption of the supply chain along with certain effects on the operating strategies of the retail sellers.
According to the April- June 2020 quarter the overall Gross Domestic Product faced a loss of 8.45 lakhs crore, where it came down to 26.90 lakh crore from 35.35 lakh crore. But, the GDP, in the case of agriculture grew by 3.4% in the same quarters. The season for harvest of the Rabi crops intersected with the period of the lockdown. The South Asian countries like India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, etc., amid the rise in corona infection, invested their energies to save the GDP of their countries by contributing to agriculture. Moreover, India saw an increase in the number of farmers during the pandemic because the people who left their villages for the dazzling job opportunities in the cities came back to their soil and opted to farm as a source to earn their livelihoods.
Even though there has been a rise in agricultural activities yet it didn’t improve the conditions of the farmers due to a stark increase in the input products. The increased cost of the seeds in Bihar and Jharkhand created problems for the marginalized/small farmers. In contrast, the farmers of Punjab, Haryana, and West Uttar Pradesh placed orders in advance due to the wealth that they possessed. While, the South Indian regions like Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka didn’t face any shortage or major problem. The lack of monetary funds made farmers vulnerable due to which they sold their crops to private organizations, at prices less than the Minimum Support Price. The suppliers of Dairy products also found themselves in this trap woven by the pandemic. The cut in supply of milk to the hotels and restaurants left the farmers with an excessive amount of milk which either was found spilled on the roads or was sold for 20 Rs/Litre.
Fig 1. Excessive quantity of milk spilled on the road
In conclusion, I would like to point out that although agriculture survived during the pandemic, yet the ones who have been investing their lives honestly to provide us food are certainly the ones who are suffering to keep the roof on their heads and food in their stomachs.
References
Rawal, Vikas et al. “India let 65 lakh tonnes of grain go to waste in four months, even as the poor went hungry.” Scroll. in, 03 June 2020.
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Paliath, Shreehari. “Farm incomes in India did not rise despite the growth in the agriculture sector amid lockdown.” Scroll. in, 30 December 2020.
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Singh, Gurpreet, and Nivedita Sharma. “Covid-19 crisis: How can India ensure that agricultural markets work in a socially distanced manner?.” Scroll. in, 12 April 2020.
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Sarkar, Soumya et al. “South Asian farmers are back in the fields despite high costs, labour shortage and a pandemic.” Scroll. in, 14 July 2020.
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