Raju, a farmer from Belagonadapalli near Hosur, recently dumped three tonnes of capsicum that he had harvested from his field. Since the lockdown came into force, he has been unable to sell the produce.
The vegetable, which has a significant market in Bengaluru, was dumped for want of takers and due to the hurdles in transportation. “Other vegetables still have takers every day. But capsicum is largely procured by restaurants and exporters,” said Mr. Raju, who grows capsicum on two acres. The 70-day crop, cultivated annually, generally sees good production during summer, with farmers spending close to ₹3 lakh per acre.
Capsicum is grown on 50 acres in Denkanikottai and Hosur blocks of Krishnagiri. Red and yellow capsicums fetch anywhere between ₹100 and ₹150 per kg, while green capsicums fetch ₹70 per kg. “Traders are unwilling to take the risk of purchasing the vegetables from the farm gate, and the export market in Hosur was shut even before the lockdown,” Mr. Raju said.
To leave the vegetable on the field would destroy the entire field. It has to be harvested to save the crop. Mr. Raju and other capsicum growers here have been harvesting the crop only to dump them later.
P.M. Sivasamy, who grows cabbage on his two-acre farm at Devarayapuram in Coimbatore, is struggling to sell the produce.
He spends ₹30,000 to ₹40,000 an acre and harvests nearly 10 tonnes of cabbage after 90 days. “I am able to sell only 100 kg to 150 kg a day. I used to sell to the daily markets in Coimbatore city. Now, traders come to the farms and ask for the produce at ₹6 to ₹10 a kg. Before the lockdown, I sold it at ₹15 to ₹20 a kg,” he said.
D.N. Aruchamy, a tomato farmer, said, “Today, the trader who buys from me every day did not come. I do not know what to do with the tomatoes.” Tomato crop cannot be left without harvesting for more than two or three days. Tomato growers are selling 15 kg for just ₹130, as against ₹300 earlier. In the Nilgiris, prices of carrots and garlic are expected to crash in the coming weeks. Recently, a truckload of carrots were dumped in a pit.
Farmers and traders of vegetables say that due to the lockdown, sales of the produce to other districts has been affected. “As a consequence, the production of vegetables has far outstripped demand, meaning vegetable prices have fallen steeply,” said R. Hariharan, a carrot trader from Ketti Paladai.
Supply hit
“Supply of vegetables to the local markets too has declined and farmers have stopped harvesting their crops over the last few weeks,” he added.
Pavish Shankarnathan, a prominent farmer and vegetable trader from Udhagamandalam, said, “People have cut down on harvesting crops, and some vegetables such as garlic are being stored in large quantities in warehouses till the lockdown eases. When it does finally end, all of these vegetables are going to come to the market, which will translate into a steep drop in prices.” Principal Secretary of the Agriculture Department Gagandeep Singh Bedi said a video of a load of carrots being dumped in Nilgiris was filmed on the second day of the lockdown. Now, with the government removing restrictions on the movement of agricultural and horticultural crops, there will be no hitch for any farmer in selling his or her produce, he said.
(With inputs from P.V. Srividya in Krishnagiri, Soundarya Preetha in Coimbatore, Rohan Premkumar in The Nilgiris and T. Ramakrishnan in Chennai)
