April 2020, South Asia
Extension and Advisory Services amid COVID-19: Efforts of KVKs in Rajasthan, Haryana and Delhi
Dr M S Meena and Dr S K Singh

To counter impacts of COVID-19 on agriculture, KVKs in Rajasthan, Haryana and Delhi are playing a proactive role. In this blog, Dr M S Meena and Dr S K Singh discuss this and suggest what more could be done to address the challenges.

India’s ongoing lockdown to control the spread of coronavirus is threatening its agriculture sector.  As it overlapped with the time of crop harvesting, the lockdown derailed threshing, harvesting and marketing operations. Lack of agricultural labour to help in harvesting and transportation of agricultural produce has worsened the situation. Meanwhile, poultry farmers in some states have been badly hit due to misinformation, particularly on social media, that chicken are carriers of COVID-19. India has taken early action to limit the spread of COVID-19, ordering a 21-day nationwide lock down for its population of 1.3 billion people starting 25 March 2020. Central and state governments have recognized the challenge and responded aggressively. Till 18 April, 11,906 cases of corona were active, 1991 cured, 480 deaths had occurred and one migrated. The nationwide lockdown has now been extended till 3 May. The lockdown period has been of great stress to farmers and farm families. The ICAR-Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) of Rajasthan, Haryana and Delhi states are proactively engaged with the Government of India, state governments and other local institutions to combat COVID-19.