Mobility paves Samsung’s silver path
The Korean giant’s early bet on mobile phones helped it hit the $10-bn mark in India, but in its 25th year it ...
As the season advanced and the country announced a 21-day lockdown, the woes of the chilli farmers that grow this labour-intensive crop only increased - THE HINDU
A video that captured the heart-rending story of a chilli farmer has gone viral in WhatsApp groups in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. With a lush green crop, almost ready for harvesting, in the backdrop, the farmer lamented how the lockdown is killing the crop.
“We have invested a lot. The situation is very bad now. Chillis, being very delicate, are falling as temperatures are rising. We desperately need labourers to get the chillis plucked,” the unidentified farmer pleads.
He is not alone. It is a collective agony of thousands of farmers in the two Telugu States.
As the movement of people and vehicles is curtailed, chilli farmers in the two Telugu States, which contribute 50-60 per cent of India’s chilli output, face a serious challenge of losing the crop. Marketyards across the two States have been shut down owing to Covid-19 fears.
According to estimates, about 30-40 per cent of the crop is yet to be harvested. Some of the farmers, who completed the harvesting, placed their produce in cold storages.
With the rabi season coming to a close in a week or so, the chilli farmers are not in a position to hire labourers for harvesting the crop. Besides, they would require pesticides and fertilisers ahead of the harvesting season but they are not able to get the stocks as the input dealers have shut down the shops.
Between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, chillis are grown in about 6 lakh acres, with a total output of 7-8 lakh tonnes.
The problem began a month ago as traders had either stopped or slowed down the purchases after international supply chains were disrupted by the coronavirus outbreak.
There has been no let-up in the situation ever since. As the season advanced and the country announced a 21-day lockdown, the woes of the farmers that grow this labour-intensive crop only increased.
They are in a precarious situation. The cost of production has gone up to about ₹2 lakh an acre.
“They would require at least 50 people (mostly women) to pick chillis. With labourers not moving out of their villages and with no vehicles in sight, it has become very difficult for them to hire people,” Sarampally Malla Reddy, Vice-President of All-India Kisan Sabha (AIKS), told BusinessLine.
B Dasaratha Rami Reddy, Secretary-General of the Confederation of Indian Farmers’ Associations (CIFA), has said that the movement of vehicles and people has become still more difficult as villagers blocked the roads.
Malla Reddy pegs the availability of labourers at 10 per cent of the total requirement. “There is another challenge of storing the output. As markets are closed, they need to store the produce in cold storages, whose capacity is very low, compared with the output,” he said.
All cold storage godowns are brimming with chilli stocks. “Not all can afford the fee. It will cost ₹160-200 to store a bag (of about 40-50 kg) for six months,” Jaipal Reddy, a farmer in Warangal district, said.
The farmers have lost hope. “Even if the markets are opened and we are able to complete harvesting, we may not get a good price as the produce would flood the market once the situation is eased,” another farmer said.
The Korean giant’s early bet on mobile phones helped it hit the $10-bn mark in India, but in its 25th year it ...
Antrix should adopt a different tactic than merely fighting over jurisdiction: Experts
Invest in relationships, enterprise, behaviour, effort and learning
From different types of osmoses to new membranes, researchers have come up with ways of drawing water
Only half the Sensex stocks have bettered the index’s return in the last 10,000-point journey
High valuation and stiff competition from larger players are a dampener
Investors with a short-term perspective can buy The New India Assurance Company (NIACL) stock at current ...
₹1490 • HDFC Bank S1S2R1R2COMMENT 1475146015051520 Fresh short positions are recommended with a stiff ...
What makes the new crop of young Indian cricketers such game-changing winners? Over and above their talent, ...
In these isolated times when people yearn for a slice of the familiar, amateur and professional chefs are ...
‘You ready to go to work?’ Joe Biden had asked Kamala Harris before naming her as his running mate. ‘Oh my ...
Writer Narendra’s latest book, rich with vignettes from Bastar and his native village in Uttar Pradesh, ...
Digital is becoming dominant media, but are companies and their ad agencies transforming fast enough to make a ...
Slow Network, promoted by journalist-lyricist Neelesh Misra, pushes rural products and experiences
How marketers can use the traditional exchange of festive wishes meaningfully
For Fortune, a brand celebrating its 20th anniversary, it was a rude shock to become the butt of social media ...
Three years after its inception, compliance with GST procedures remains a headache for exporters, job workers ...
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives of companies are altering the prospects for wooden toys of ...
Aequs Aerospace to create space for large-scale manufacture of toys at Koppal
And it has every reason to smile. Covid-19 has triggered a consumer shift towards branded products as ...
Please Email the Editor