Indian Express

IT’S TIME to harvest wheat in Punjab and Haryana, and Telangana is sitting on a bumper paddy crop. But all three states are struggling to find farm labour, with the lockdown stalling movement of people. Besides, for the two northern states, where rains have delayed harvesting, the lockdown has meant harvesting machines remain stuck in Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, where harvesting happens early.

Farmers are getting increasingly anxious. “When will this lockdown end?” asked Rammehar Beniwal, a farmer from Gorakhpur village of Fatehabad district, who has wheat crop in 10 acres. “My crop is almost ready, but no labourers and harvester machines,” he said.

First Post

The dairy industry in Assam has come to a standstill with farmers having to deal with lockdown regulations that have severely impacted their livelihood. Dairy farmers in Jorabat area of Kamrup district, waiting for the state government to ease restrictions and help them out of this crisis, are concerned about their cattle falling sick due to feed shortage, rise in fodder prices, and unavailability of forage.

On Sunday, five dairy farmers from Ghanshyam Patti village of Nepali Basti hired a van to travel almost 20 km to Guwahati to sell milk. At least 250 people live in the basti that has 50 dairy farmers.

Times Of India

As the harvest season for the Rabi crops nears, farmers across the state are worried that in face of the crisis caused by the novel coronavirus and the lockdown imposed across the country, they will have to bear severe losses. Speaking to TOI, several farmers termed migration of workers out of the state as a problem for farmers in many areas, while others saw the closure of mandis and disturbance of the supply chain as a major threat. “I have crops ready to be harvested in a week in almost four acres. But the availability of labour is going to be a serious issue. Even if I have to employ a threshing machine, we will need several labourers ...

New Indian Express

Six days after the Statewide lockdown, the government on Sunday relaxed curfew for carrying out agriculture-related works and transportation of essential goods. The move will facilitate resumption of work for over 50 lakh people in both the organized and unorganised sectors in agriculture and its allied industries, sources said. Apart from repeated pleas from farmers association, food grain manufacturers, traders and political parties, the government was compelled to relax the norms to procure rice and essential commodities for distributing through fair price shops, highly placed sources said.

Telangana Today

The nationwide lockdown to prevent coronavirus spread has majorly hit the agriculture produce markets of almost all the states.

President of All India Dal Mill Association Suresh Aggarwal told IANS that the supply has been disrupted due to the closure of the country’s agriculture produce markets, which could lead to shortage of all food items, including flour, rice and lentils in the coming days.

He said the government must look into the matter as almost 80 per cent dal mills were closed due to the lockdown.

Times Of India

Scores of classrooms that normally echo with academic lectures and discussions will become stocking centres for paddy and other agriculture produce in Telangana. With a bumper crop of over 1.05 crore metric tonne of paddy alone expected in April and farmers in Telangana barred from moving out of their villages due to the lockdown, chief minister KCR has now zeroed in on empty schools to save the agri produce. As a result, paddy and other agri products would be temporarily stored in government schools and junior colleges until the stocks are transported out.

Republic World

Amid the 21-day nationwide lockdown to prevent the spread of coronavirus, the Ministry of Home Affairs on Friday has made farming and its related activities as essential goods and services that can remain operational during the lockdown period, in its second Addendum to the lockdown guidelines. Also, inter-state and intra-state movement of harvesting has been allowed by the MHA.