E-Paper
Tea, pineapple farmers stare at big losses amid Covid-19 lockdown
The Covid-19 lockdown has not only hit conventional crop farmers in Bihar, but also tea and pineapple growers in Kishanganj district, who have been forced to dump
The Covid-19 lockdown has not only hit conventional crop farmers in Bihar, but also tea and pineapple growers in Kishanganj district, who have been forced to dump their produce due to lack of processing facilities and buyers.
The tea growers’ association in Kishanganj has estimated losses over the past few weeks at ₹ 20 crore after green leaves were not plucked in time (from the end of March to the first week of April) as the gardens and factories were shut following the lockdown that began on March 25.
According to reports, tea growers dumped a huge quantity of green leaves from the first flush during March 22-April 7 as there were no buyers for the produce amid a nationwide disruption in supply chains.
Raj Karan Daftari, a tea garden owner and president of the Ashok Bihar Tea Plantation Development Society in Kishanganj, said: “Around 5,000 small and marginal farmers growing tea in their fields have been hit due to the non-plucking of green leaves.”
He added, “After the lockdown, our processing units and factories came to a halt. Permission was granted to resume work in the first week of April. But by that time, one cycle for plucking leaves was over and a huge quantity of green leaves was damaged, prompting farmers to dump them.
“It is estimated that one crore kilograms of green leaves, worth ₹ 20 crore, was damaged in the past few weeks in the district.”
The society has approached the Tea Board for compensation after a survey, he said.
“The state government should provide some relief to small and marginal tea growers as they are not registered with the Tea Board, having small fields where tea is grown,” Daftari said.
In Kishanganj, the yearly tea production is estimated at 75 lakh kg, while green leaf production is nine crore kilograms annually. There are 10 processing units in the district with most tea growers concentrated in Pothia, Thakurganj and Kishanganj blocks.
Struggle of pineapple farmers
The condition of pineapple farmers is no better, and Dulal Singh, a grower in Pothia block of Kisganganj, said thousands of fruits perished in the past few weeks because there was no way to send the produce to the nearest markets in north Bengal.
“We sell our produce to wholesalers in Bengal and it is then sent to several states and Delhi. But due to the lockdown, there were no buyers and transportation is difficult. Our fruits are perishing each day because the summer heat is rising, which damages the fruit,” he said.
Singh said the tropical fruits are lying in the fields.
Mohammed Rafiq, another pineapple grower, said: “We invested ₹ 1 lakh to ₹ 3 lakh for the produce. But we are not even getting ₹ 2 for one pineapple these days, whereas it usually fetches a good price. We have been pushed back almost 10 years to 15 years in terms of trade losses, which is in crores.”
Rafiq said the yield per acre is usually 12,000 pieces of pineapples.
Bihar’s agriculture secretary N Saravana Kumar said the state government has taken up the matter of allowing fast transportation of pineapples with the West Bengal and the Central governments.
“We are coordinating with the West Bengal government and the Centre to ensure buyers are able to buy produce from the fields of Kishanganj and other areas. We are making arrangements to ensure the pineapples reach markets in north Bengal by road and the district magistrates have been directed to keep tabs on this,” Kumar said.
Referring to losses in the tea sector, Kumar said tea is in the commercial crops category and there are no provisions for compensation. “We have allowed the tea gardens to resume work and operations are going on now,” he said.
