Malda: Mango growers in Malda district of West Bengal are hard hit as COVID-19 lockdown strikes a blow to their mango orchards, which cover around 31,000 hectares of the area of the town.
According to a rough estimate by the state's agri-horticulture department, more than one lakh people, who are engaged pruning and maintaining of the mango orchards are suddenly left unemployed due to lockdown.
“Although, the onset of summer took place later this year, still plenty of flowers were visible on every tree. The tender flowers were then hit by untimely rains. The flowers were virtually lost in around 50 per cent of the trees, but we ran from pillar to post to save the trees. Now, when everything is alright and our trees need a continuous spray of water and insecticides, we are stuck in our homes. Fertiliser shops are closed, workers to maintain the orchards are also not available," said, Nabirul Sheikh, who has around 300 mango trees in Amriti village of the district.
"Even if we somehow manage the produce, we will not be able to transport it and we will have enough customers to buy it," said Sheikh, who knows that the due to self-imposed restrictions and directions by the government, the business has already hit a kind of an all-time low.
"We are practically ruined this time," he said.
Another mango grower Akhtar Momin had taken a lease of more than 1,000 trees this time and is now staring at a dark future.
“How will I maintain the trees and the fruits, which were saved after the untimely rains? To properly maintain a tree we need around five to seven labourers working altogether. We are ready to take up social distancing measures, but none of the labourers is willing to work in a group. The government is unmoved by our plight. Already some of the mangoes have developed spots due to non-maintenance," said Momin.
"Nobody can save us now,” laments Momin.
“Most of the orchards have shut down. We have no work. If the trees are not maintained properly, then the produce will not yield good results. Initially, we tried to reach out to the orchard owners, but police are arresting as they have restricted movement in and around the town. But, that is how we work. We are unable to make them understand that we are running low on savings and supplies. We don't know what will happen next,” said Rojul Sheikh.
Mango orchards require trained labourers who know how to maintain the delicate trees and fruits. People like Rojul Sheikh, Shamrul Momin and Nabirul Sheikh form the pivotal force behind maintenance of the trees and the orchards on the whole.
The economy of Malda is primarily dependent on its sweet and succulent mangoes and is one of the largest mango yielding regions of the country, producing over five lakh tonnes or around 5 per cent of India's national yield.
It is now literally in the doldrums amid lockdown.
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