April 2020, South Asia 
COVID-19 impact on agriculture: Varied and devastating
S Ananth

The impact of COVID-19 on the economy is no doubt devastating. No sector has escaped its impact. Its impact on agriculture is complex and varied across diverse segments that form the agricultural value chain. Even among the different segments, its impact varies widely among different regions and among producers and agricultural wage labourers. This impact will reverberate across the larger economy and will linger longer than a few months.

The problems in agriculture at the moment are primarily related to (a) labour availability and, (b) inability to access markets for produce due to issues in transportation as well operation of markets.

The non-availability of labour has hurt operations in many parts. Some parts of agriculture that have the luxury of deploying technology for harvesting, like Paddy and Wheat, are relatively more insulated since they often do not have to depend on large numbers of manual labour. The increasing use of mechanical harvesters for paddy has helped in the present circumstances, though their inter-state movement has been severely curtailed.