May 2020, South Asia
Farm to market: Indian farmers struggle to mend losses amid coronavirus lockdown
Roshni Balaji

The nationwide lockdown has resulted in severe labour shortages, transport impediments, and reduced market access, leaving thousands of farmers in the lurch.

The freshly-grown fruits had turned ripe, rabi crops like barley were ready to be harvested, and bright-coloured vegetables were seen dangling from the plants. However, most of these were either left to rot in the farms, or sold at an extremely nominal price in the market.  The nationwide lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic has resulted in severe labour shortages, transport impediments, and reduced market access, leaving thousands of farmers in the lurch. Though the Indian government made it a point to relax some of the restrictions for the farming sector, the community is still striving to cope with the losses.
Thirty-two-year-old Edward L owns a three-acre farm at Gaddige, a small temple town located in the Mysore district of Karnataka. After toiling day and night, he managed to produce an abundant yield of bananas and coconuts this year. But, most of his effort went in vain.