Let us thank our Farmers during COVID

by Astha Alang

April 14, 2020

Since the outbreak of COVID-19 in India, a common sight in local grocery stores has been empty shelves. Barely any slots were available on online delivery platforms too.

While we have stocked up on our kitchen essentials - rice, bread, eggs, meat and grains, how many of us spared a thought for our farmers who grow our food?

There are around 118.7 million farmers in India (Census 2011), many of them with minimal support to deal with this situation, no health insurance or limited access to safety measures. India is the world’s second largest producer of fruits and vegetables which have taken the greatest hit as prices in farms have plunged. 

Covid-19 is a wake-up call to build a sustainable future - with better social protection and stronger international cooperation. The Sustainable Development Goals are the world’s agreed roadmap to get there.


JOINING HANDS

Many farmers are not able to travel to bank branches for payment of their short-term crop loan dues. Moreover, due to restrictions on movement of people and difficulty in timely sale and receipt of payment of their produce, farmers are facing difficulties in repayment of their short-term crop loans due during this period.

Various private sector companies, leaders, celebrities and industrialists have made their contribution. The Government of India also announced various incentives and initiatives for farmers. For instance, extending the benefit of 2 per cent Interest Subvention to Banks and 3 per cent Prompt Repayment Incentive to all farmers up to end of this May for all crop loans up to INR 300,000, given by banks which have become due.

UNDP in India works to connect farmers directly with the buyers so that they get a better price for their produce. During this unusual time, even a small but joint-up effort between the local Government, private sector and partners will make a difference to the lives of farmers.

UNDP, along with its partner Larsen and Toubro Public Charitable Trust, undertook measures to ensure that this vulnerable population does not get left behind or pushed back into poverty because of the COVID crisis.  Through Project Uddyam, it supports over 500 chilli-growing farmers in Talasari block in Palghar, Maharashtra though agri-extension services and facilitation of market linkages.

To ensure that these 500 farmers are not putting their health at risk by traveling, they were advised by the Gram Sanghs or village organisations formed under UMED (Maharashtra State Rural Livelihoods Mission) to provide their harvest to the nearest procurement centres. This also saved them money.

In fact, this village organizations collectively sold a total of 85 Metric Tonnes of chilli till 23 March this year, with the help of UNDP, just a day before the lockdown was announced. Safety protocols at procurement centres such as wearing of masks and ensuring six feet distance were put in place. This enabled farmers to supply their produce to these centres and minimise losses during the lockdown.

We took special permission from local government bodies to make this happen. After the procurement centres started operating during the lockdown, the price of chilli went back to normal, with farmers getting a fair price for their produce.

Due to the lockdown, there has been less demand for the produce and only grade A chillies are being procured. The farmers have been advised to ripen the grade B chillies on the plant itself and further efforts will be made to market the same later. The Community Resource Persons (CRPs) also visit the farmers to guide them on how to grade the chillies and ensure that the farmers selling chillies at the procurement centres strictly adhere to the safety protocols. By the first week of April this year, a total produce of 10 metric tonne of chillies had been sold through the project run procurement centres.

We know that 2020 marked the beginning of a Decade of Action towards the Sustainable Development Goals. But with the COVID-19 pandemic, the global context for development has fundamentally changed. While the world faces the greatest socio-economic shocks in this generation, at such ecologically fragile times, small collaborative efforts like these can help reduce distress at the grassroots and help them cope better.  

The writer is a Senior Communications Officer at UNDP India