Raipur: The coronavirus pandemic and the consequent drop in the economic activities aggravated the already miserable conditions of the farmers in the country.
To know their struggles and grief, ETV Bharat spoke to one such farmer who was forced to crush down his banana and papaya produce.
Anuj Agrawal, a farmer from Chakravaay village, near the state capital, had planted his papaya and banana crop, but when it was time for harvest, the lockdown was imposed.
As his crop found no buyers and the next season of harvesting approached, Anuj was left with no choice but to 'tear down' his hard work.
"Due to the lockdown, the traders from other states could not come to purchase the harvest and the sales in the local market failed to even recover the cost. I have to prepare my field for the Kharif season so I had to destroy these," told Anuj in his choked voice.
Anuj grew papayas and bananas over 25 acres of his land. His hard work resulted in good yield but it failed to provide him the required profit.
"I have already thrown away 150 tons of papaya. Around 100 tons of papayas are still left which I will destroy through my tractor," revealed visibly sad Anuj.
Cash crops like papaya and banana require large investments from the farmers. On the banks of the Shivnath, especially in Durg, Raipur, and Bemetra districts, on the banks of the Mahanadi in Mahasamund and Bilaspur, a lot of farmers practice horticultural farming which requires an investment of Rs 1-1.25 lakh.
"Local businessmen are buying papayas at around Rs 2-2.25, while the cost I incurred was around Rs 5-6/kg," added Anuj.
Following heavy losses, farmers are being forced to take down their own produce, such occurrence only raises one question- When will the suffering of the Indian farmers end?
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