Miller Magazine Issue: 125 May 2020

20 NEWS MILLER / MAY 2020 Across the globe, millions of farmers cannot get their produce to consumers because of lockdowns that aim to stop the spread of coronavirus. In absence of labor, transport, fear of pandemic, farmers staring at disaster, as nations head for possible food shortage. Coronavirus disrupts global food supply chains In many parts of the world, restrictions on populati- on movement are wreaking havoc on farming and food supply chains and raising concern of more widespread shortages and price spikes to come. Across the globe, millions of laborers cannot get to the fields for harvesting and planting. There are too few truckers to keep goods moving. Air freight capacity for fresh produce has plum- meted as planes are grounded. And there is a shortage of food containers for shipping because of a drop in voya- ges from China. In the absence of labor and means of transportation due to lockdown to stem the spread of coronavirus, mil- lions of farmers are staring at another disaster, watching their produce rotting in their fields across the plains of Pakistan and India. Farmers, desperately looking for labor to harvest whe- at, mainly in Punjab, and southern Sindh, the two bre- ad-baskets for Pakistan. Around 70% of Pakistan's small farmers rely on traditional farm laborers, who come from the remote or the low-income areas before the harves- ting season. They could not make it this time due to we- eks-long lockdown. In nearby India, the world's second-most populous country, the situation is no different. Farmers in Punjab, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Gujarat -- the key food basket states -- are desperately looking for labor to harvest wheat and gram. "Now is the time to harvest crops like wheat and gram, while the harvesting season for mustard is already over. But there is no labor availab- le,” Surendra Singh Bhati, a small farmer, told Anadolu Agency. NO MEANS TO TRANSPORT THE CROP TO MARKETS Even those farmers, who have harvested their crops taking help from their relatives and neighbors are not able to sell the produce in the absence of transportati- on. Apart from wheat, heaps of plucked vegetables are lying in the fields in different states, shattering the hopes of farmers to get bumper profits this year. Reports co- ming from different parts of rural India suggest that the farmers are dumping fruits and vegetables outside their villages or feeding them to their cattle. The governments in both the countries have also de- layed procurement of crops from farmers, an annual exercise to a full-up buffer stock of food grains, which also acts as an incentive to farmers to ensure a minimum support price. In India, the central government has asked the farmers to delay harvesting given the situation. Prime Minister