A Study to assess the problems faced by the farmers due to covid-19 from the selected areas

Mr. Amol Bhagwat Kanade¹, Mr. Avinash Chandrabhan Shinde²

¹Clinical Instructor, The Department of Mental Health Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, D.E. Society’s Smt. Subhadra K. Jindal College of Nursing, Fergusson College Campus, Pune, Maharashtra, India.

²Clinical Instructor, The Department of Child Health Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, D.E. Society’s Smt. Subhadra K. Jindal College of Nursing, Fergusson College Campus, Pune, Maharashtra, India.

*Corresponding Author E-mail: amolkanade623@gmail.com

ABSTRACT:

Nashik (Maharashtra), Apr 09 (ANI): The dairy farmers in Maharashtra’s Nashik are facing losses due to the lockdown. Nationwide lockdown has been imposed in backdrop of COVID-19 outbreak. Milk price dipped to almost half amid pandemic and farmers are forced to sell the milk at low prices. While speaking to ANI, one of the farmers said, “We used to sell milk at Rs 50-55 per litre, now we have to sell it at Rs 30-35 per litre. The demand is low as hotels and tea stalls are closed. It is becoming difficult to manage expenses.” Small farmers in Maharashtra are joining hands to take vegetables and fruits to the doorsteps of housing societies as big markets and Agricultural Produce Market Committees (APMCs) are not fully functioning because of lockdown. New Delhi - Summer fruits and vegetables have ripened, a bumper crop of wheat is ready for harvest in India, but hobbled by severe labour shortages, transport bottlenecks and plummeting demand due to a nationwide coronavirus lockdown, millions of farmers are staring at huge losses. The setback caused by the COVID-19 pandemic will plunge the country’s struggling rural economy that supports nearly half its population into further distress, according to farm economists. In Haryana, a lush farm state in the north, Kamal Yadav was just beginning to pluck a bountiful harvest of cucumbers and bell peppers on a two-hectare plot when the lockdown was announced two weeks ago. “Suddenly there were no buyers. Big retailers, restaurants and hotels all closed down and household demand dipped drastically because many fears that vegetables are handled by too many people.” In the western Maharashtra state, Asia’s largest onion trading market in Lasalgaon is struggling to transport the freshly harvested crop across the country or ship it to countries like Malaysia and in the Middle East. The reason: tens of thousands of daily wagers who came from neighbouring states fled to their villages in panic in the wake of the unprecedented lockdown. Design: Qualitative design using individual semi‐structured interviews. Subjects and Methods: Setting: The study was conducted at villages of Ahmednagar district; Semi structured interviews with the farmers was used to assess the problems faced by the farmers. Results: The major problems faced by farmers are the inadequacy of assistance, reduction in prices of crops and lack of transport, delay in getting support, repayment of the loan, and so on. The government should help these farmers to overcome these conditions; otherwise, they will suffer colossal debt, which would be a reason for them to leave this sector. Conclusion: Farmers had no option but to dump their produce. Most (80%) of farmers of grapes growing and vegetable growing have dumped their product.

KEYWORDS: Farmer, Problems and Covid-19.

INTRODUCTION:

The COVID-19 crisis in India has left unharvested farm produce to rot in farmers’ fields, collapsed supply chains and disturbed the transport network. In times of lockdown, farmers are finding it difficult to sell farm produce sans buyers, while urban consumers are either facing scarcity or are forced to pay a high rate for farm goods. India consisting of 16% of world's population sustains only on 2.4% of land resource. Agriculture sector is the only livelihood to the two-third of its population which gives employment to the 57% of work force and is a raw material source to large number of industries. Despite of portrayal of farming as a healthy and happy way of life, agriculture sector experiences one of the highest number of suicides than any other industry.

NEED OF THE STUDY:

The ongoing health crisis around COVID19 has affected all walks of life. Protecting lives of people suffering from the disease as well as frontline health responders have been the priority of nations. Governments have swung into actions since the Corona virus attack created an unprecedented situation. India declared a three-week nation-wide lockdown till mid-April in the initial phase, which has subsequently been extended till May 3 for achieving satisfactory containment of the virus spread.

During these challenging times, how does Indian Agriculture respond to the crisis and how do government measures affect 140 million farm households across the country and thereafter impact the economy of a very important country in the developing world.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has also announced specific measures that address the “burden of debt servicing” due to COVID19 pandemic. Agricultural term and crop loans have been granted a moratorium of three months (till May 31) by banking institutions with 3 percent concession on the interest rate of crop loans up to INR 300,000 for borrowers with good repayment Behavior.

Aim of The Study:

‘A study to assess the problems faced by the farmers due to covid-19 from the selected areas.’

Objectives:

To assess problems faced by the farmers due to covid-19.

Research Design:

As the research aimed at assessing the problems faced by the farmers due to covid-19 from the selected areas., the research design used for the study was case study methods with qualitative research approach.

Subjects and Methods:

The study was conducted at villages of Ahmednagar district; structured interviews with the farmers was used to assess the problems faced by the farmers.

Interview outline:

We determined the interview outline by consulting relevant literature, seeking experts’ opinions, and selecting 2 farmers for pre interview. The main interview questions posed to the participants are the following:(1). How were the supply chains affected due to Coronavirus lockdown? Are you supplying the fruit s and vegetables across the state to large importers and retailers. (2) How much losses have you witnessed amidst the lockdown period? (3) Did you struggle to sell crops in lockdown? (4) Problem faced by the dairy farmers. (5) Any other problem faced due to lockdown?

Data Collection:

We communicated the purpose and significance of the study with the participant in advance and scheduled the interview time at their convenience. The one-to-one interviews were conducted in a separate room in a quiet manner without interruptions. The interviews were recorded, which were kept strictly confidential. The interviews took 20-30 minutes per person. The study subjects were allowed to withdraw consent at any time. For each participant, at least 1-2 face-to-face interviews and 1-2 telephone interviews were arranged as needed to ensure data collection at multiple time points.

Ethical review:

This study was reviewed and approved by the Ethics Committee of the D.E. Society’s Smt. Subhadra K. Jindal College of Nursing (Date-29-04-2020). All participants signed informed consent. The authors promise that there will be no academic misconduct such as plagiarism, data fabrication, falsification, and repeated publication.

Statistical analysis:

The data were computerized and verified using the SPSS (statistical package for social science) version 16.0 to perform tabulation and statistical analysis. Qualitative variables were described in frequency and percentages, while quantitative variables were described by mean and standard deviation.

RESULTS:

The data was analysed and presented in the following sections:

Section 1:

Description of demographic data.

Section 2:

Assessment of problem faced by the farmers due to Covid -19

Table (I): Socio-demographic characteristics of the studied group

Variables

No. (n=60)

Age (years):

20-30

30-40

40-50

50 years and above

25.00

50.00

16.67

08.33

Education

Illiterate

Primary

Secondary

Undergraduate

Graduate and above

25.00

08.33

33.34

25.00

Tehsil

Rahata

Shrirampur

Sangamner

Rahuri

25.00

Type of Family

Nuclear

Joint

33.33

66.67

Land in Acres

0-5

5-10

10-15

15 and Above

41.67

33.33

11.67

13.33

The majority (Half) of participants were between the ages of 30 – 40 years (50%). Most of the participants were Undergraduate (33.34%). Equal (25%) participants were from four tehsil, i.e. Rahata, Shrirampur, Sangamner and Rahuri. Most of the study participants were from Joint family (66.67%) and had 0-5 Acres of Land (41.67%).

Section 2: Assessment of problem faced by the farmers due to Covid -19

Table (II): Themes identified through interviews with farmers

S.No	Theme	Quotations/Description
1	Problems due to supply chain	“Our peak season for exports is from January to May, so the lockdown was announced right in the middle of our export season. Exports contribute 85% of our revenue. Initially, the supply chain was completely disrupted due to lockdown and it had severely affected our business” “With places of worship closed and ban on all cultural, traditional or religious ceremonies over COVID19. there are no takers for flowers” "One or 2 quintals of cabbages are getting waste every day and I am helpless to do anything without transportation pomegranate farmer with 40 tonnes in stock.
2.	Financial Loss	The losses varied between farmers. However, this ranges from 30% to 80% depending on the product and location. Because of supply chain disruption, harvesting was affected, and farmers have lost their crops too. Few farmers had to sell their produce in distress at very low prices. "Those financial concerns will always lead to, you know, relationship issues, issues within the family, concerns about how they're going to continue to be able to keep on farming,"
3.	Selling Hindrances during lockdown	Initially, farmers had to struggle a lot as there were no takers. Farmers are also facing labour issues. For example: watermelon and grapes farmers need a labour strength of minimum 10-15 people. However, with the scarcity of labour and restriction imposed in the gathering of more than 4 people in certain states, farmers are not able to harvest the crop. The challenge for farmers harvesting fruits has been to ensure the harvest takes place at the right time, as they cannot hold on to the fruits for long. They have limited storage facilities for perishables in India, and if not taken care of, the fruits can go bad in 48-72 hours. A lot of farmers are unable to reach the market, so the prices at the backend have come down. For grapes where it’s a peak season and a lot of production takes place, the prices came down by about 60-65%. Novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) — also forced 50 per cent of the farmers to store their crops as they were unable to sell them.
4.	Problems of Dairy farmers	Before the lockdown happened, the dairy farmers used to sell milk at Rs 30-35 per litre but currently, they are selling it at Rs 18-20 per litre due to low demand. “People are not coming to buy milk and at times, we are feeding it to the poor. We are facing a huge loss. We are unable to figure out how would we pay to our labourers and arrange fodder for cattle. Also, transportation has become costly. It has become very difficult for us to survive.”
4	Mental Health Issue	31% of farmers say they’re sleeping less because of coronavirus-related anxiety. Insecurity of income Loss of social contacts: loss of engagement and “social capital” can bring about a decline in personal well-being. I feel Depressed, I opened dairy farm a few years ago. I struggled working long hours all alone while making no profit. Currently, selling milk at Rs 10-20 per litre and Sometimes we have brought it at home due to low demand.
5	Other problems	“Farmers are finding it tough to get the crop cut, cleaned and sell. They also need people for grading of the crops. Currently, they are helping each other as 40-45% of labourers have gone back to their home states” “I am worried that I will infect my family member” “I am worried that, If I will die due to Corona, who will take care of my family members”

1. The lack of labour has impacted the harvesting process. Moreover, transporting and selling the crop in the market has been a serious concern

2. Also, the farmers are themselves apprehensive of visiting these markets fearing Corona infection. Lack of storage and availability of pesticides at some places has further raised complications.

3. The farmers had started harvesting wheat, but with markets not open, the storage became a problem. If sold in the open, the buyers are not giving a fair price. The farmers were not getting more than Rs. 1600 per quintal.

4. The wheat farmers are finding it difficult to harvest their crops owing to the absence of combined harvesters from district, and the vegetable farmers are not even finding customers for distress sales for their produce owing to the closure of mandis.

5. Agricultural produce rates have drastically fallen. Farmers had no option but to dump their produce, grapes growing and vegetable growing farmers are dumping their product.

CONCLUSION:

In spite of all these measures and in view of continuing restrictions on movements of people and vehicular traffic, concerns have been raised regarding negative implications of COVID19 pandemic on the farm economy. This is also the time when the farm harvests reach the mandis (market yards) for assured procurement operations by designated government agencies. Moreover, any severe disruption to the supply of perishable fruits and vegetables, dairy products, fish, etc. having mobilized to meet the increasing demand from a bulging middle class as well as urban and rural consumers, may create irreparable damage to all actors in the supply chain.

SUGGESTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS:

1. Crop yields are important for farmer’s economy. But except some most crops are attacked by ad diseases. The natural calamities ruin all the crops. Hence, it is suggested that crops insurance against natural calamities should be made available to farmers.

2. The produce of the small and medium farmers be purchased by organizations like marketing federation or such other institution so that they get higher prices.

3. Loans be made available at low interest to the farmers to buy farm implements.

4. Maharashtra government should make transport available at cheap rate for the farmers to take their agricultural products to the markets.

5. Hundred percent loan should be given to the farmers to buy various farm implements by co-operative or commercial banks.

6. Maharashtra government should fix well in advance the base prices of food grains like Jowar, Bajara, Wheat in proportion to cost of production.

7. In case of natural calamities if farmers do not get good harvest, the loans taken by the farmers or at least the interest should be wair.

8. The Maharashtra government should get all the crop insured on behalf of farmers.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:

The authors are thankful to chairman of D.E. Society, Dr. Sharad Kunte, Dr. Sharad Agarkhedkar LMC chairman of D.E. Society’s Smt. Subhadra K. Jindal College of Nursing and Principal, Lt. Col (Retd) Mrs. Rosamma Basil for giving an opportunity to conduct the study and grateful to the study participants for providing the necessary information which was required to fulfil the objective.

REFERENCES:

1. The Economic Times, English Edition, E-Paper, ANI | 12 Apr 2020, 11: 43 AM IST

2. Kale, Rajiv, Nikam Vinayak, Unshackling Farmer Producer Organizations from The Covid – 19 Lockdown, 4-11-2020

3. Zhu N, Zhang D, Wang W. A novel coronavirus from patients with pneumonia in China, 2019. N Engl J Med. 2020; 382:727–733

4. https://www.mygov.in/covid-19

5. https://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-dairy-farmers-in-maharashtra-face-hardship-as-milk-supply-falls-amid-coronavirus-lockdown-2820655

6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_pandemic_in_India

7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_pandemic_in_Maharashtra

8. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0233668

9. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-52086274

10. https://www.firstpost.com/india/maharashtra-extends-lockdown-till-31-july-whats-allowed-non-essential-markets

11. Mohfw.gov.in

12. www.who.int

13. www.unicef.org

14. Covid.aims.edu

15. Report of the WHO-China Joint mission on Coronavirus Disease 2019

16. Survey tool and guidance- WHO, Regional office for Europe

17. National Health Mission- Maharashtra

18. coronavirus.jhu.edu

19. Ranadive S. 2018. Abhinav Farmers’ Club, India. AESA Face to face. Agriculture Extension in South

20. Asia. (Available at: https://www.aesanetwork.org/abhinav-farmers-club-india/)

21. Ranadive S. 2018. Abhinav Farmers’ Club, India. AESA Face to face. Agriculture Extension in South

22. Asia. (Available at: https://www.aesanetwork.org/abhinav-farmers-club-india/)

23. Ranadive S. 2018. Abhinav Farmers’ Club, India. AESA Face to face. Agriculture Extension in South

24. Asia. (Available at: https://www.aesanetwork.org/abhinav-farmers-club-india/)

25. Ranadive S. 2018. Abhinav Farmers’ Club, India. AESA Face to face. Agriculture Extension in South

26. Asia. (Available at: https://www.aesanetwork.org/abhinav-farmers-club-india/)