Malda (West Bengal): Though the weather this year has been favourable and mango yield unaffected by pests, mango farmers in the Malda district of West Bengal, who are considered the principal contributors to the economy of the district, fear that because of the COVID-19 crisis and the lockdown, there may not be adequate buyers. So like last year, the mango farmers in the district are really tensed this year as well. They are worried about their future.
Generally, mango farming is done on over 32,000 hectares of land in Malda district. However this year the extent of farming has been slightly lesser than the previous years, according to the statistics listed by the gardening department of the district.
This year, farming was done over roughly 31,000 hectares of land. According to the deputy director of the department, Krishnendu Nandan, this year the quality of the yield was quite satisfactory. This year around 3,00,000 metric tonnes of mangoes are expected to be produced, he said.
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"However, because of the present COVID-19 crisis, there might be difficulties in getting adequate buyers," he said.
Mango farmer, Rahmat Ali noted that the yield this year is better than the previous year.
"But the COVID-19 crisis and lockdown have posed real difficulty for us. We are yet to get buyers. Not even buyers from other districts or states are coming forward. We contacted them over the phone. But they are unwilling. It seems that the selling of our yield will be difficult this year, so my request is that the state district administration should make some arrangements for marketing our products," he said.
Similar is the opinion of his fellow farmer, Sushanta Chowdhury. "Till yesteryears, we had buyers from Assam, Bihar and Jharkhand among others. Apart from that, wholesalers from other districts also contacted us. However, this year, they have not contacted us as yet. This year the yield has been extremely good. But in absence of buyers, we do not know what to do with the yield. We borrowed money for farming. However, if we are not able to market our products, then suicide will be the only resort. COVID-19 and lockdown have brought disaster for us," he said.
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The secretary of Malda Mango Merchants' Association, Ujjwalkumar Chowdhury, this is the second consecutive year that the yield of mangoes has been extremely good in the district.
"If the lockdown continues and norms get tightened further, then marketing of our products will be really difficult. We will apply to different places so that the products can be marketed. As the Mango Fair in Delhi is not happening this year because of the crisis. We had been demanding setting up mango processing units in the district for quite some time. Only this can be the solution," he said.
Secretary of Malda Merchants' Chamber of Commerce, Jayanta Kundu said last year during the mango season, the country was going through a full lockdown. This year the yield had been even better. Every year transactions worth Rs 1000 crore are held over mango trade. But this year, because of the renewed crisis, we might not be able to market our products. I already informed Sabina Yasmin, the state minister from the district. Hope she can initiate the matter with the chief minister," he said.
