Dates do a disappearing act from markets during Ramzan

Dates, one of the most sought after dry fruit during the holy month of Ramzan, which starts this week, is likely to missing from the plates this year — courtesy

Dates, one of the most sought after dry fruit during the holy month of Ramzan, which starts this week, is likely to missing from the plates this year — courtesy a supply chain that has been both broken and overwhelmed by the ongoing Covid-19 lockdown.

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According to traders, the lack of transport and labourers amid the lockdown has hit the business by about 60%. Wholesale traders are not being able to transport the dry fruit while retailers are failing to procure available stocks from the mandi, making the Ramzan staple literally disappear from the local markets.

Dates are used by the devotees (rozedaars) to break their daylong fast during Ramzan.

In India, dates are imported majorly to Mumbai and Gujarat from countries like Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Algeria, Malaysia and Israel. They are then brought to the city’s Azadpur agricultural produce market, from where they are supplied to different markets in Delhi and other states, such as Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.

According to traders, this year due to the Covid-19 lockdown, the supply of the fruit has been severely hit. They said that dates could not reach the city markets in sufficient quantities, even though due to Ramzan the demand was high.

A wholesale trader of dates at Azadpur Agricultural Produce Market Committee, Azadpur, Pankaj Chawla said that due to the lockdown, transportation of dates is very tough. The scarcity of labourers was also adversely affecting business.

He explained that wholesalers purchase dates nearly two months in advance for Ramzan ,which are then kept in cold storages in nearby towns of Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. Dates are transported to Azadpur Mandi as and when required from these godowns.

“Ramzan is the only month when we do brisk business due to high demand for dates. But this year, business has gone down by more than 60%. Dates are kept in godowns but we are not able to transport it to the mandi in required quantities. Since dates are not essential fruit, so we require special permission to transport them during the lockdown. Sometimes we get permission, but do not get the labour to load and unload vehicles as most of them have returned to their hometowns,” Chawla said.

From Azadpur Mandi, dates are majorly transported to markets in areas such as Jama Masjid, Seelampur, Chandni Chowk, Okhla, Jamia and Mehrauli, which is further distributed in local areas. Dates are sold at a wholesale price ranging between Rs 100 to Rs 250 per kilo depending upon the quality. Traders said that dates imported from Iran and Iraq are heavy in demand by consumers in Delhi.

Another trader at Azadpur mandi, Anil Dua said that during Ramzan over 600-tonne of dates are sold easily. But this year the supply chain is broken due to transportation problems and scarcity of labourers. So sales have plummeted.

“Not only the supply is affected but buyers are also not able to reach the mandi to purchase dates. The stock, which we have at shops already, is yet to be cleared because retailers are not able to enter the wholesale market due to stringent regulations. Things have turned worse after a vegetable trader died of coronavirus,” Dua said.

Ajit Ramneeklal Joshi, a member of Dates and Dry fruits Traders Association in Mumbai, said that many wholesalers in Delhi purchase dates from different importers in Mumbai and Gujarat but this year they were not able to supply due to the ongoing lockdown.

“Goods (dates) are either stuck at ports or at godowns. Local supply is okay but due to the lockdown, we are neither getting labourers not the permit to transport dates to cities like Delhi, Lucknow, Jaipur. Business has gone down by about 60%-65%,” Joshi, who supplies dates to Delhi traders, said.

Due to the lockdown, both dedicated and makeshift shops in many localities have not been set up this year, so dates are scarcely available in the retail markets.

“Mandi authorities are not allowing buyers to enter the market, so we are unable to purchase dates. Labour shortage is another issue of concern. Hence this Ramzan. dates will not be easily available in retail markets across the city,” Yamin Khan, a retailer at Jama Masjid market said.