“We had thought that since people are not eating meat out of fear of Coronavirus, the sale of vegetables will increase, but it has not happened. We have started suffering loss instead of profit,” said Mohammad Arif, a trader in Ghazipur Vegetable Mandi, Delhi.
Arif runs a company named Arif Vegetables, which procures vegetables from several states, including Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and UP.
“The vegetable vendors who sell vegetables in the colonies have also reduced their purchases, many are not even coming. The turnover of my business which used to be Rs 80-90,000 a day, 15 days ago, has now come down to Rs 50-60,000,” he added.
The impact of Coronavirus has hit the trade of vegetables and fruits, its demand and people associated with it. Not only big businesses, but also farmers and local vegetable vendors are suffering.
As per Arif the demand for vegetables in Delhi has decreased by 30-40 per cent.
Rajesh Kumar, CEO of Deep Vegetable Company and a big vegetable trader of Azadpur Mandiin New Delhi, one of the largest mandis in the country, said: “Earlier, a lot of orders came from the hotels which has now gone down by 60 to 70 per cent. I do business of foreign vegetables (broccoli, brussels sprouts, lettuce), which was in great demand with hotels, etc. Earlier, the riots had stopped the work which is now suffering due to Corona.”
“About the same time last year, I had sold mint at the Jaipur Mandi for Rs 20 a kilo. Just a day earlier (March 18, 2020), 20 kg of peppermint was sold at Rs160. The agent told the demand from Delhi has come down, so the price is falling. He suggested me to call and check with him next week before taking my produce to the mandi,” Bhagwan Sai said.
The 35-year-old farmer, Bhagwan Sai, who hails from Begar village in Jothwara tehsil of Jaipur, Rajasthan has two-and-a-half acres of land in which he cultivates onion, coriander and mint. More than one lakh people have now been affected by the Coronavirus spread across the world and more than 7,000 have died. In India too, the virus has claimed four lives and infected 180 people.
The farmers of the country are also not spared by its impact. While the prices of basmati rice, cotton, soybean and tea have declined due to stalled trade with other countries, it is also adversely affecting millions of vegetable farmers and traders in the country due to the stalled hotel and tourism business.
India produces 169 million metric tonnes of vegetables annually in about one crore hectares.
Rajendra Sharma, president of the Onion Merchant Association, New Delhi, said: “In case of Azadpur mandi, the highest demand currently is for onion and potato. There is an atmosphere of panic among the people, so their attention is on vegetables that are not spoiled quickly. Each is taking amounts such as 25 kg of potato and onion for the houses. This is the reason why the prices of retail potatoes have gone up from Rs 12 to Rs 18 and onion has gone up from Rs 15 to Rs 25 per kilo, though the onion price should have been more, but due to the stalled chicken business, the price of onion did not increase as per expectation.”
He added: “But this is not the actual problem. The problem will be in the time to come. Those who are buying potato and onion in such quantities will no longer come for 15-20 days, and then the whole market will be affected. Then the prices will crash causing huge losses to the farmers.”
The vegetable farmers of the country are also reeling under inclement weather. The rains since the last week of February have damaged a large quantity of vegetables across different parts of the country. The price of tomato in Maharashtra mandis has gone down to Rs 2 per kilo. Although it is due to more production, less consumption has also been a major reason.
Vijay Zawadiya, an agricultural economist living in Pune, said: “The farmer had not yet recovered from last year’s recession when Corona hit them. Not only tomatoes but maize, cotton and soybean farmers are also in a bad condition. Soybean sold around Rs 5,000 is currently being sold at Rs 3,500-3600, the farmer is forced to sell Rs 1,800 a quintal maize at Rs 1,300. Because of the slump in the poultry industry of the country and the stalled exports the demand of maize and soybean has fallen substantially.”
Arvind Kashyap, director of the largest mandi in Uttar Pradesh capital Lucknow, Naveen Gulla Mandi, informed: “Panic has led to a decline of up to 25 per cent in both arrivals and trade. Vehicles coming in from Karnataka and Nasik are also getting fewer. Traders are thinking of somehow disposing of the goods at hand.”
The nearby farmers have reduced their visits to the city fearing both Corona and poor pricing. Rumours have also affected the trade. Farmers and traders worry that the mandi may be closed down any time.
While the export of grapes, apart from vegetables, is also being hit due to Coronavirus, the common traders are scared of the future losses, as 40 per cent of the total common production in India goes to gulf and European countries.
Jagannath Khapre, president of the All India Grape Exporter Association, pointed out: “Due to low exports, the price of grapes has come down from Rs100 per kilo to Rs 70-75. Although the packaging work has begun, if the situation does not improve soon, we’d have to open the boxes and let the stock in the domestic markets. In that case, the the price will come down further.”
“The mango season has just begun. Currently, 3,000-4,000 boxes are received in the mandis, whereas when the season peaks (from the second week of April), the daily arrivals would reach about one lakh boxes.
Abu Bhai of Navi Mumbai, who is a large-scale trader of mango, said: “Our mango has the highest demand in other countries, but we are scared. We don’t know when the exports will resume. The farmers benefit immensely from the mango, but if the exports do not start in the coming 15 days, there will be a lot of damage. The mandi has also been closed down here.”
