SOURCE: Monogya Loiwal, India Today
Fruit vendors in West Bengal are in a fix as they are forced to sell their produce at a relatively lower price than it was sold before the country was hit by the coronavirus pandemic. Guava cultivators, who sold their produce at Rs 7-8 per guava are now forced to sell it at Re 1. Worst, no one is buying them even at this rate.
Bimal Sardar, 52, owns a guava orchard spread in two bigha (acre) land in South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal.
As a cultivator, he produces tonnes of guavas in a year. After selling the guavas, Bimal Sardar repays a loan of Rs 60,000 after about four months. This year was, however, different. Bimal does not know how and when he would manage to repay the loan amid the pandemic and post the cyclone.
Bimal Sardar said, “Now, due to this pandemic and the post-cyclone damage, our condition as fruit farmers has worsened. I don’t know how I will repay my loan. We haven’t received any government aid till now and we just have to crawl and struggle for livelihood.”
all the fruit farmers in the Baruipur-Kalyanpur village area are facing similar challenges.
Guava cultivators and wholesalers across West Bengal have been hit hard by the lockdown and cylone Amphan. Local train facilities haven’t been restored in the unlock phases yet.
The guava farmers, who used to sell their produce at the rate of Rs 5 to 7 per piece in the pre-coronavirus times, are now selling them at Re 1. Yet, there has been no improvement in sales.
Toheb Seth, a guava vendor, said, “We used to sell guavas at Rs 120 to Rs 150 per 20 pieces. There are no takers for them even at Rs 30. Sometimes, we have to throw away the guavas because no one is buying it.”
Monsoon is the guava season. The guava business every year in South 24 Parganas in West Bengal yields an earning of about Rs 6 to 7 lakh.
Suraj Kumar Thakur, a guava trader, said, “We have huge sales during this time every year. With the trains not running, we have to go by car which takes longer. We have to travel all night and by the time we reach the market, it’s already noon. Sales go down hence.”
Ganesh Das, a guava market leader, said, “We can’t travel and the police keep harassing us. We are dying. The price is absolutely low because people are not buying it anymore.”
There is a sharp dip in sales compared to the last year with earnings less than Rs 1 lakh.
The guavas are exported to different parts of the state for sale. Some traders have been renting cars on their own to buy guavas, but they are facing losses due to the high transport costs.
Saheb Ali Naskar, a farmer, said, “We might earn some more money if the trains start running.”
Many guava orchards were damaged in cyclone Amphan but the guava farmers of Baruipur had decided to cover the cost of cultivation with the amount after selling the harvest. Now with more confusion about the bordering districts of Kolkata and badly-hit supply chain, there seems to be no respite in days to come.