COVID-19: No relief for farmers & consumers in sight as lockdown will hurt both

Large scale migration of migrant workers and restrictions on the movement of goods through the road network have badly affected the agriculture sector, which will hurt both the producers and consumers.

New Delhi: Restrictions on the movement of commodities and shortage of labourers caused by a nationwide lockdown will result in the hardening of prices of fruits and vegetables, which will hurt the consumers but will not benefit farmers, say agriculture sector experts.

“It will be a kind of paradox, while consumers will have to pay more for fruits and vegetables, the farmers will not benefit from it,” said Ashok Vishandass, former chairman of Commission for Agricultural Cost & Prices (CACP).

"Due to supply bottlenecks, the farmers will be forced to sell their produce at a low price," Ashok Vishandass told ETV Bharat.

In order to slow down the community transmission of highly contagious Sars-CoV-2 virus, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a nationwide complete lockdown from the midnight of March 25, which has been extended till May 3.

The lockdown has resulted in unprecedented disruption of movement of goods and commodities across the country. The agriculture activity was later included in the essential services, exempting the farming activity from the purview of the lockdown. However, large scale migration of migrant workers and restrictions on the movement of goods through the road network have badly affected the agriculture sector.

These disruptions have hit hard the harvesting and supply of perishable commodities to consumers.

“There are no trucks, no drivers, markets are not operational,” noted Ashok Vishandass

No one to harvest, no takers for produce

“Production of tomato, banana, grape, orange and muskmelon has been affected across producing states,” said Dr P Chengal Reddy, Chief Advisor of the Consortium of Indian Farmers Associations (CIFA).

He said orange growers in Maharashtra, and coconut growers in states like Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka are under immense pressure as harvesting and movement of these commodities have been badly affected due to the lockdown.

“Who is going to buy mango or coconut in the market when there is a complete lockdown,” Dr. P Chengal Reddy told ETV Bharat.

Ashok Vishandass, who was chairman of the Commission for Agricultural Cost and Prices (CACP), the official body for tracking the cost and prices in agriculture sector, said the price rise caused by the lockdown will not be limited to just fruits and vegetables.

“It will not be restricted to perishable commodities, but it will also spill over to other commodities as well,” he said.

In its monetary policy committee report released early this month, the RBI noted that the impact of COVID-19 on inflation was unclear.

While giving its inflation outlook for the near and medium term, the RBI noted that the direction of retail inflation will depend on how fast the spike in vegetable prices witnessed in the December-January period will reverse. The RBI said vegetable prices will determine the inflation trajectory in future.

In their assessment both Ashok Vishandass and Dr P Chengal Reddy agree that the prices of vegetables and fruits will remain firm in the near and medium term.

"Due to supply bottlenecks and distribution problems, the gap between the farm gate price and retail market price will widen, hurting both farmers and consumers alike," said Ashok Vishandass. “It will be an extremely difficult situation.”

As per the latest official data, the COVID-19 virus has infected nearly 23,000 people in the country and has killed more than 1,000 people so far. The virus has severely impacted some of the most developed countries, including the USA, Italy, Spain, UK, Germany and France, killing more than 2.2 lakh people worldwide and infecting more than 30 lakh people.

(Article by Krishnanand Tripathi)