In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, the leading industry body, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) has recommended effective procurement and storage of Rabi harvest and approaching Kharif sowing. The nationwide lockdown has disrupted the Rabi crop harvesting across the country.
To make smooth agricultural operations, FICCI has activity-wise recommendations.
1. Allow mandis to operate smoothly
To ensure that the supply chain of food, including processed food, is not disrupted, mandis must be allowed to run after ensuring appropriate protection and hygiene measures. Food processing units should be allowed to function without any artificial distinction between essential and non-essential.
2. More procurement centers should be opened
The number of procurement centers needs to be increased in the states where arrivals are expected to start in a few days. Farmers should not have to transport more than 3 km to offer their produce for minimum support price (MSP) operations. The number of trucks for lifting the procured stocks from procurement centers needs to go up substantially. Otherwise, there will be a shortage of space at procurement centers. Sufficient storage space needs to be created at warehouses of the Food Corporation of India (FCI) and state agencies. If covered warehouses are not available, proper arrangements for CAP storage of wheat should be made.
3. Relaxation in APMC regulations
APMC regulations should be relaxed which prohibit sale and purchase outside mandi jurisdiction. Farmers of perishable produce such as vegetables, fruits, milk, fish, meat, etc. should be allowed to sell their produce outside the regulated markets.
4. Smooth transportation
Govt. must ensure that the police help farmers who are bringing their produce to mandis or the places where it can be sold. This includes retail shops as well as street vendors who are selling the produce in urban areas. Smooth transportation of all food items into urban areas must be allowed.
5. Storage charges should be taken care of by the government
Storage charges incurred by small and marginal farmers for six months of stocks kept by them in WDRA (Warehousing Development and Regulatory Authority) registered warehouses or cold storages for which eNWRs (negotiable warehouse receipts in electronic form) have been issued, should be taken care of by the Government.
6. Make fumigation and pest management as essential services
Guidelines issued by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on the announcement of the 21-day lockdown, did not specifically include “Fumigation and Pest Management as essential services”. “Pest Control Services & Fumigation Services at warehouses” are equally required for blocking the spread of the coronavirus pandemic and keeping agri commodities infestation-free during storage. Therefore, this should be enlisted as an essential service. As of now, only Maharashtra has exempted “Fumigation & Pest Management” services in their orders. * As per scientists of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), around 35 percent of India’s agricultural crop is lost due to pest infestation, a significant part of which is during storage.
7. Ensuring a supply of seeds and other agri-inputs for the Kharif season
Every state has issued an advisory and exempted agri- input industry, especially seeds). However, agriculture officials in districts do not have clarity regarding the issuance of permits for opening the premises and permits for employee movements.
The current challenge lies in the implementation of the state guidelines at the tolls and inter-state borders. Therefore, the state governments should notify the nodal agency or persons who shall have the authority to issue the permits to the exempted industries.
8. Seed licenses
Seed companies whose seed licenses have just expired or are about to expire are unable to renew their licenses due to the lockdown. In such cases, FICCI has requested that all seed licenses which are to expire in March 2020 or later, be automatically extended. This will facilitate the unhindered supply of seeds for this Kharif season.
9. Concerns related to irrigation equipment
In the context of the forthcoming Kharif crop, farmers will require the deployment and maintenance of irrigation systems. States like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Andhra Pradesh have clearly stated that irrigation equipment would be covered in the list of essential items. However, there is no guideline from the Centre on including irrigation equipment in the essential list. Due to this, companies are not able to start operations and provide equipment in these states. The equipment stocked in warehouses will not be adequate to meet the demand. Therefore, guidelines from the Centre are important.
10. Concerns related to farm machinery
The addendum issued on April 3, 2020, by the Centre government, does mention relaxation in farm machinery. However, tractors which do not fall in the definition of farm machinery, are not mentioned specifically, which is causing problems at the state level. Companies are getting continuous requirements from farmers to purchase tractors since it is a sowing and land preparation time for the Kharif season, but they are unable to meet demand due to ambiguity in circular and hindrance by local authorities.
11. Reschedule crop loans and investment loans
Loans taken on Kisan Credit Card (KCC) as well as investment loans taken by small farmers may be rescheduled and no interest should be charged for six months.
12. Cold chain
Impact on cold chain units: The cold chain industry runs on the backbone of fuel and power. The cold chain units are under severe distress and fear of disconnection of electricity supply, due to delay in payment or inability to pay electric bills. If the electricity supply of the cold storage unit is disconnected, that would lead to a national loss of a few thousand tonnes of food material. Moreover, if food items get rotten, there would be a widespread issue of hygiene and smell.
Impact on potato cold stores: Potato harvest is due in this season and cold stores are busy buying potatoes for storage. Shortage of labor and restriction on truck movement will result in low capacity utilization, default on bank loans, and wastage of potatoes on the field with losses to farmers. This may lead to an increase in the price of potatoes also in the coming three to four months.
Suggestions in this regard
The electricity rate of cold storage units is to be matched with the agricultural tariff of the state. The rate of electricity on national power exchange is Rs. 1.90 while the cold storage units are being charged ranging from Rs. 6.50 to Rs. 8.50. It is requested that during this time of distress, electricity unit rates for cold stores be decreased. It is pertinent to mention, that Maharashtra and Haryana are already charging Agriculture Tariff from the cold storage units.
Potato harvesting and associated logistics should be specifically exempted from the lockdown restrictions. Cold stores should be allowed to engage labor and trucks to move produce from the field to stores. Cold stores should be given a power subsidy for six months by the Central government to compensate for lower capacity utilization.
13. Relief measures for the poultry sector
Today, the Indian poultry sector employs more than 10 lakh poultry farmers and provides Rs. 1.2 lakh crore to the Indian GDP directly. Poultry also gives direct benefit to more than one crore maize and soya farmers and provides direct and indirect employment to more than 5 crore citizens of the country engaged in poultry production, trade, feed, agriculture crops, logistics, poultry-based products, and exports, among others.
The recent outbreak of COVID-19 has diminished the demand for poultry products, which is immensely impacting the poultry industry. Despite the fact, that there is no scientific evidence to show that coronavirus spreads through eating chicken, mutton, and seafood, the situation is not improving.
Impact on maize and soybean farmers: In the absence of demand for poultry products, maize and soybean farmers are also suffering. As a result, the prices of maize have dropped from Rs.25 to Rs.15 per kg in the last few days.
Impact on poultry industry: Prices of eggs have now decreased to Rs.2 per egg at the farm gate. Every poultry farmer is suffering an average loss of Rs.130 per bird. Due to such a scenario, poultry farmers have even started destroying and culling their produce, which needs immediate attention.
As per industry estimates, the Current 2.5-month loss of the poultry industry (broiler farmers & layer farmers, integration companies, and breeding companies) beginning from February 1 to April 15, 2020, until the lockdown opens is Rs 22,500 crore.
14. Recommendations for shrimp industry
India is the 2nd largest shrimp producer in the world and is the largest employer of women in the segment. The farmers are holding a stock of about USD 1 billion – 1.5 billion primarily for exports (Total shrimp exports are Rs 30,000 crore approximately). Major shrimp-producing states are Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Gujarat. Shrimp is an extremely perishable commodity and if not procured within time, deteriorates very rapidly.
Interventions required
The stock has to be harvested daily and sold in the domestic market for the next 30 – 45 – 60 days as exports have stopped. Therefore, such farmers should be linked to buyers through an e-commerce model. Online perishables retailers should be incentivized to extend their helping hand.
Facilitation by the government for the movement of shrimp produces to the domestic market by allowing reefers. Reefer trucks should be allowed to move the product for distribution to the retail market or online for home delivery.
