Farmers need integrated support on war footing, says CEO of Lawrencedale Agro Processing India

Marginalised farmers are facing multiple difficulties in the aftermath of Covid-19. The countrywide lockdown and control measures brought harvesting operations and movement of farm produce to a complete halt initially.

Though the lockdown was relaxed to some extent later, wholesale markets and shops selling essential items and vegetables were allowed to operate for specific hours. This resulted in a drop in consumption capacity.

Further, with social distancing becoming the norm, the footfalls during such hours also fell. There was no demand shortfall, nor short supplies; the trade was hampered due to paucity of time.

It was a paradoxical situation — the crops were ready for harvest but with no takers to lift the farm produce, the farmers were in a fix. Some allowed the produce to rot in the field, while a few others tried to offload it in the neighbourhood at distress.

It is highly important for farmers to harvest the crop as they need to keep the land ready for the next harvest and also raise resources to buy seeds, plant protection and plant nutrition inputs for the next cycle. The lack of availability of labour at farmlands also added to their woes.

Even if farmers manage to harvest with support of family and friends, the large wholesale markets are operating at a fraction of their strength, and with it the woes of liquidating the harvest, of earning for next crop cycle, is further in a mess.

Given the fact that Covid-19 is making businesses adapt to a new reality, the agriculture sector too will have no choice but to innovate.

The Centre, along with the State agricultural departments, is working overtime to bring some sanity to the farming sector; public-private partnerships are playing a key-role here.

An integrated approach of stakeholders comprising government departments and private participants is the need of the hour.

Farmers have no clarity about the various schemes, nor of availing the benefits; these should be addressed immediately.

The first priority, though, should be liquidating the standing harvest and ensuring that farmers earn back at least the cost of cultivation. The government has to ensure that farmers have adequate resources, including income, availability of seeds and crop protection and nutrition inputs at nominal costs to enable them go in for the next crop.

If the link to the next crop cycle is broken, the livelihoods of farmers, especially the marginal landholders, will be in a tailspin and it will be a much more costly process to rectify the mess at a later stage.

The present (crisis) is expected to open up opportunities to strengthen relationship with millions of farmers and also help in capacity-building.

Scientific agriculture practices, innovation in organised credit, post-harvest management, extending shelf life of harvest, efficient storage, smart logistics, and a plethora of options are available from smart entrepreneurs across the landscape

The capacity-building, especially for marginalised farmers, is when they try to understand consumers’ requirements — be it at the retailers’ or at the food processors’ end.

Integrated logistics solution providers can be called upon to ship the produce, with State governments facilitating cross-border movements. This will ensure that the produce is available across India and the farmers would benefit from realistic price discovery.

The private sector has been able to liquidate a phenomenal amount of harvest during the lockdown period and with more aggressive steps from stakeholders it would do wonders to the agriculture sector.

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