Widespread Rains Bring Cheers but Farmers’ Woes Don’t End

Widespread rain and hail in Panjab on 2 Feb ended a two-month dry, cold, and largely sunless spell, benefitting kharif (fall harvest) crops (SDW Vol. 2 Issue 4, Story 9). According to agricultural experts, the rain will prove a boon for kharif crops, particularly wheat. Some districts also experienced hailstorms but their impact has not been adverse. While the rains indicate a good wheat harvest, farmers' woes do not end. The Customs Commissionerate of Ludhiana has kept in abeyance an order that has caused 30-40 containers of Basmati rice booked for shipment to West Asian countries to pile up, stuck at the inland container depot in Ludhiana. Meanwhile, in the wake of the staggering decline in kinnow prices in Panjab, a team led by Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) vice-chancellor (V-C) Satbir Singh Gosal initiated a critical assessment during a recent visit to citrus orchards and packing facilities in Abohar. Experts have identified a host of factors contributing to this alarming situation: inadequate marketing services, the absence of a processing industry, and rejections due to heavy metal traces and chemical residues. Prevalent size-based grading and auto pollution have further compounded the crisis. Stakeholders attribute low rates to a three-times hike in customs duty by the Bangladesh government from ₹20 per kg in 2019 to ₹63 per kg last year. The farmers can’t take their orchards away from the roads; the government must frame traffic policies, start processing units, introduce better grading systems, and lobby Bangladesh to reduce import duty.