Vegetable growers in the Nilgiris are a worried lot, for even while the Government has permitted the movement of essential commodities (including vegetables) during the lockdown 2.0, as the prices they realise are ‘pathetic’.

“There have been ups and downs in the past, but never like this,” says R Rangaswamy, President of Niligiris Potato and Vegetable Growers Association.

This deadly virus has resulted in labour shortage, disruption in supply chain – both for taking the produce to the mandi , as well as attending to farm lands and general slackness in trade activities, he said.

Growers feel that the Government should support the vegetable growers by fixing a minimum support price. “There is always a connect between Ooty and Carrot. Unfortunately, this very vegetable has pushed the grower to the streets. Growers are shattered, gaping at the loss and fretting to get back to farming,” said another youngster, a native of the hill district, who after spending some years in the plains returned to his hometown to take care of his father’s lands.

Rangaswamy said that the loss from cultivation of carrot alone was around ₹1.5-1.60 lakh per acre/per grower. “Even today, the procurement price at the mandi was only ₹12/kg, whereas our cultivation cost is much higher – around ₹20/kg. This includes seed cost, labour and transportation cost – from the farm to the mandi . We have no option but let go. Our survival is going to be tough.”

Poor demand, excess supply

S Prakash, a graduate farmer from Kadanad village, said that the “closure of schools, shops and hotels has resulted in a steep slide in the demand. Supply excess is pushing the prices south”.

This village houses around 1,500 families. And his neighbours, he says were struggling to make ends meet.

“In the initial week after the lockdown, I pooled the vegetable produce such as cabbage, carrot and beetroot that were harvested, but could not be taken to the mandi and I distributed the same amongst the people in my village and nearby hamlets.

“I distributed around 1,000 kg of carrots and 2,000 kg of cabbages for free. Farmers could neither leave the produce in the field without harvesting nor offload the stuff in the market. The requirement was there, but we were unable to find logistical elements to sell it,” he said.

Lokesh Vasudevan, a chartered accountant and native of the hill district, said the vegetable growers struggle has been unprecedented, unheard off in the Nilgiris.

At this juncture, Rangaswamy says vegetable growers do not have the wherewithal to procure seeds for the next crop. The seed rates are shooting up, labour is hard to find and expensive. Government should help ensure a minimum support price, he reiterated.

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