Coronavirus hits farmers in harvest season in Bihar

By Manoj Pathak

Patna, March 26 (SocialNews.XYZ) Farmers confronted with the coronavirus lockdown in Bihar and across the country are now worrying about standing crops in the fields which cannot be harvested.

Farmers were already disturbed by the untimely rains and now there is uneasiness over the crops left in the fields.

Farmer leader Arvind Singh says that in areas where wheat was sown earlier, harvesting will also begin after Ramnavami. The crop will also be ready and workers will not get to go to the farms.

The harvesting of wheat, gram, mustard and other rabi crops are in March and April, says Ramnivas Singh, a farmer of Dulhin Bazar. At present, these crops are blooming in the fields as preparations for harvesting are on. Now if labourers are not procured it will add to farmers' troubles.

An agriculture department official said that due to drought about 3.89 lakh hectares of paddy could not be planted, while a large area was affected due to flooding. He said that the rabi crop has been damaged before due to rains in February.

Due to the paddy crop being ruined, farmers had already sown rabi this year, due to which the crop is ready soon. Due to the lockdown, farmers are not able to go to their fields nor are they getting labourers.

Farmer leader in Tal region, Randhir Singh, says that due to untimely rains in the fields of Rahar (Arhar), there has not been a confirmed grain, now it is time to cut it. After the rains, half the grains have already fallen off in the fields due to strong sunlight. Now, if the arhar is not harvested in 10-12 days, all the grains will be lost.

Source: IANS