The Wayanad district administration is gearing up to take steps to address the issues of farmers, who have been cultivating ginger on rented land in Karnataka, in the wake of lockdown restrictions.
“Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had directed me to chalk out a plan to solve the issues of cross-border
farmers who got trapped in their ginger farms in Karnataka owing to lockdown restrictions,” District Collector Adeela Abdulla told The Hindu on Tuesday.
“As the farming community is spread across various parts of the State, especially in Wayanad, Malappuram, Kannur and Kozhikode districts in the Malabar region, I asked the help of concerned district collectors to draft a plan jointly,” Ms. Abdulla said.
“We are collecting details of farmers and once it is over, we will take steps to bring them back to the State,” she said. They would be quarantined for 14 days once they enter the district, she added.
According to the data available with the Kerala Ginger Growers’ Association (KGGA), as many as 50,000 farmers from the State are engaged in ginger cultivation in Karnataka and the cultivation is spread over 1,50,000 hectares this season.
Sample test
Meanwhile, the district administration in association with Health and Police departments intensified sample tests to prevent the spread of COVID-19 following the easing of lockdown curbs.
Random checks had also begun in the district to prevent community spread of the disease, Ms. Abdulla said.
“We have identified as many as 4,500 rooms as part of setting up COVID-19 care centres in the district, and 80 persons have registered online to return to the district,” she said.
