Former chief minister Kamal Nath appealed to Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan to extend a monthly relief of at least ₹7,500 to each farmer for the next two months in view of the lockdown imposed to contain the COVID-19 threat.
Stating that rabi crop harvest and sale had already begun, Mr. Nath wrote to Mr. Chouhan: “Several crops like wheat, peas, coriander, mustard and gram etc are in the state of harvest but due to the lockdown the harvest is not being possible and a possibility of the crop damage is created.”
Also read: Coronavirus | Why 21-day lockdown period?
In addition, he said, farmers who had already harvested crops were facing storage issues. “In many districts, harvested vegetables are kept in fields and are reaching the stage of getting damaged, as there are no arrangements for transport or sale of vegetables owing to the lockdown,” he added.
The situation was no different in the case of fruits, he pointed out. “For instance, if orange is not plucked in time, it will start rotting after a period. The situation has further worsened owing to untimely rain.”
Mr. Nath said, “To give relief to farmers, it is important that the State government makes arrangements for the harvest, plucking, storage, transport and sale of vegetables, crops and fruits.”
The State government has so far exempted machines used in harvesting, including threshers and harvesters, from the lockdown. Besides, it has promised farmers that arrangements will be made for the purchase of wheat.
