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Covid effect: Up to 50% dip in veggie prices worries Haryana farmers
As per farmers, people are unable to buy directly from them and they have to sell their produce to limited number of vendors, which they say has led to fall in prices.
Within a week, the lockdown has hit the business of Haryana vegetable growers and dairy farmers by almost snapping the supply chain.
Though the government has made it clear that there will be no restriction on the supply of essential items, especially vegetables, ration and milk, while fixing the time for vegetable markets to operate — 4.30am to 9.30am — daily, farmers are alleging that due to the lockdown, wholesale prices of most of the vegetables have crashed up to 50%.
As per farmers, people are unable to buy directly from them and they have to sell their produce to limited number of vendors, which they say has led to fall in prices.
Sushil Kumar, a farmer from Radaur in Yamunanagar, said, “Nowadays, price of cauliflower is Rs 10/kg and it is being sold at Rs 18/kg against Rs 24-27 per kg before the lockdown.”
Another farmer Jasvinder Singh from Kheri Dabdlan in Kurukshetra said, “Due to restrictions in vegetable markets, prices have crashed. We had to sell cucumber at Rs 14/kg on Thursday, which fetched up to Rs 30/kg before the lockdown.”
Meanwhile, officials of the state agriculture marketing board said there was no impact of the lockdown on the wholesale prices of vegetables as farmers were allowed to sell their produce through commission agents.
“The produce of local farmers is procured in open auction and the prices of vegetables depend on the quantity and quality,” said Jasbir Singh, mandi secretary of Kurukshetra district.
DAIRY FARMERS STARE AT LOSSES
As procurement agencies have also reduced the prices of milk, dairy farmers are staring at losses with the wholesale rate of milk dropping up to Rs 10 per litre.
“The government procurement agency, Vita, has reduced its prices for the third time since March 21 and now it has come down to Rs 63/l for 100% fat milk from Rs 70, besides Rs 5 bonus per litre,” said a dairy farmer in Yamunanagar, Prem Chand.
Ranjit Singh, a procurement manager at Haryana dairy development cooperative federation (Vita), said, “The demand has dropped as we are able to sell only 5,000 litre per day against 20,000 litre before the lockdown. We don’t even have enough containers to keep the remaining 95,000 liters of milk we procure daily as there is almost no demand of milk products like khoya, cheese, curd and kheer.”
POTATO GROWERS’ GAIN
However, potato growers are happy as they claimed that the lockdown did not cast any major impact on the prices, but increased the demand of potatoes.
“Traders bought our produce even from the field at Rs 12/kg against the previous Rs 15/kg. But this deal cut our transportation cost and the payment was made on the spot,” said Darsan Lal, a potato grower from Ladwa in Kurukshetra.
