Lockdown: Small Vegetable Growers Left in Lurch, Vegetables Rot in Sitapur Fields

Lucknow: Ramsevak Prajapati, 65, a small vegetable grower in Sitapur district of Uttar Pradesh, has lost his livelihood during the COVID-19 lockdown. He, along with his wife and four children, grow vegetables to feed his family of six and take his produce to Lucknow's Dubagga Mandi, where traders and retailers buy vegetables in bulk. After the lockdown, transport hurdles and labour scarcity, Ramsevak’s vegetables are rotting in the field, and he is staring at mounting losses.

Sitapur is one of the largest fresh vegetable-producing districts in Uttar Pradesh. The major vegetable crops grown here include potato, okra, tomato and beans. However, the apathy of the district administration is adding to the anguish of vegetable growers.

Speaking withNewsClick, a teary-eyed Ramsevak said due to the complete lockdown, people are not moving around on streets and his business had been badly affected. "I sit here waiting the entire day and sell 2-3kg potatoes. We only have local residents buying from us but that is just for Rs 20 or so. That will not cover our cost. My vegetables are rotting in the fields. I don't have any idea what I will do with these vegetables, as I can’t go to Lucknow to sell them," he added.

Thousands of vegetable growers and small vendors in the district don't own shops and for selling vegetables and fruits in villages, they need prior permission from the district administration.

Devendra Singh, a farmer based in Mohanlalganj, Lucknow, who produces only niche‘English’ vegetables, such as green, yellow and red capsicums and corn, said that ever since five-star hotels and restaurants were closed after the lockdown, the demand for such vegetables has drastically dropped.

"Producing capsicum is very expensive. We invest Rs 42 lakh per acre. Now the situation is such that it is rotting in the fields and we are forced to throw these vegetables away."

Singh alleged that Lucknow police was adding to their troubles by obstructing trucks carrying vegetables to the mandi and also beating them up. "After lathi-charge at Dubagga Mandi, all small vegetable growers are scared and are not going to Lucknow," he said.

“There are no takers for vegetables grown in our farmland, as lockdown restrictions have affected transportation. It is likely that unsold vegetables will rot in the farmland,” Singh said.

Before the lockdown, vegetables were being supplied from the mandito various parts of the state, such as Lucknow, Agra, Gorakhpur and even some parts of neighbouring Bihar and West Bengal.

Farmers alleged that though their vegetables have good demand in the local markets, they are unable to venture out, fearing police action amid lockdown.

“The situation is chaotic right now. The supply chain is broken and it will take a long time to bring it back to normal. By that time, our produce would rot,” some farmers said.

Incidentally, vegetables in hundreds of hectares have not yet been harvested. In some places, middlemen are trying to buy vegetables at throwaway prices, the growers alleged.

Ajit, a vegetable grower from Gonda, said vegetables were rotting due to the rising temperature. Also, as the untransported produce is covered in dust, people were not buying it.

"Our vegetables are getting spoiled because of the heat and we are facing huge losses. We are not even allowed to sell vegetables in the local market due to social distancing. It would help farmers and ordinary people if the government allots us a new place temporarily," he added.

‘POLICE BEATING UP VENDORS’

Usually filled with vegetable sellers, Lucknow’s Dubagga Mandi has been witnessing arrival of very few vegetable growers ever since the district administration allowed vendors to sell the commodities only between 12 am to 6 a.m. If this protocol is broken, the police resorts beating up vendors and register First Information Reports (FIR) against them, it was alleged.

Babu Atiq, president of Dubagga Mandi Association, said the largest vegetable market of Uttar Pradesh had turned into a ghost town after administration's advisory. "Vegetables are to be sold in the mandi only from 12 o'clock in the night to 6 o'clock in the morning. If anyone breaks this timing, the police first beats him and then FIR follows. The police is treating vendors like this despite the fact that they are the ones who pay Rs 2 lakh as tax to the government," he said.

According to Atiq, on March 26, as many as 25 small vendors were booked for overshooting the timing by only 10 minutes. "Can't the administration understand that it takes 10 minutes to shut shop? Why is this government so authoritarian?" he said.

The Dubagga Mandi Association also alleged that vegetables were not arriving because the police was not letting trucks enter into the city. "The biggest issue is the closure of state entry points and tolls across India. Some 1.2 crore trucks are said to be stranded across India," he added.