Sir,
Agriculture is regarded be a backbone of Indian economy. The contribution of agriculture can not be neglected as its role in GDP is almost touching 20 per cent by the passing year of 2021. The pandemic started within the month of March 2020 which created a havoc among the farming communities, as most of the markets, marketing channels were almost dead. Nearly 90 percent of India’s agricultural sector is created from small and marginal farmers. These farmers are particularly prone to economic shocks, include those sparked by COVID-19 lockdowns.. The produce of the farmers already never fetched a decent price and this pandemic deprived farmers from getting price of their produce. Farmers of all sizes are feeling the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, from travel restrictions to plug closures to social distancing requirements. Smallholder farmers and farm workers in developing countries may be among those feeling the largest economic impact as even slight price fluctuations can have deep impacts on their lives. Covid-19 has had immediate implications for farmers who normally used to sell their harvest in bulk to traders at local marketplaces referred to as mandis. With these now closed, selling crops has become a challenge. Pandemic has brought new threats not only to livelihoods but also to food security . Indeed, this pandemic has laid bare the fragility of agricultural value chains, which has a best toll on family farmers and vulnerable agricultural workers there’s a necessity for agricultural market reforms, safety nets to confirm reasonable working conditions, and to decentralise food systems to create them more resilient. The Government. should provide specific protections for those most affected. Strengthening social protection schemes should include encouraging farmers to affix farmer producer organisations (FPOs), providing them easy accessibility to credit, and investing in capacity building and guidance on digital and marketing solutions. Encouraging agri-tech start-ups to figure with FPOs and smallholders and ensuring transparent rules could help improve both input and output supply chains. Leveraging innovation and digital technologies will play an important role in recovering from the pandemic: “Because farmers don’t seem to be able to sell their produce, they don’t have the cash to take a position in crops for the subsequent season. The utilization of electronic vouchers and exploring the expansion of other digital solutions could provide a chance to shut this gap.
Sunish Sharma
SKUAST, Jammu
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