How farmers in Mandya are faring in the aftermath of COVID-19 and lockdown

 Just 100 km south-west of Bengaluru is Sakkare Nadu (land of sugar) – Mandya. With five rivers – Cauvery, Hemavathy, Lokapavani, Veera Vaishnavi and Shimsha – flowing through it, Mandya is known for progressive agriculture. Two large dams – Krishna Raja Sagara and Hemavathy – irrigate over a lakh hectares in the district. Lush green fields of paddy, sugarcane, mulberry and vegetables around the buzzing town of Mandya display a prosperous image.

Mandya’s agriculture attracts media attention for three reasons – its dispute with the neighbouring states on sharing Cauvery water, farmers’ agitation for release of payment against cane procured by factories, and farmer suicides. This year’s pandemic and lockdown posed a new crisis for the illustrious farmers of Mandya.

Lockdown restrictions on transport during March and April forced them to sell their vegetables in Mandya market itself, for half the price they fetched last year. Since the month of May, transport restrictions were relaxed and access to market improved. But by then, borewells were yielding low and there were hardly any vegetables to transport.

 Silk reeling and yarn making units stopped their operations for two to three months since March. The price of cocoon fell 60-70%, from Rs 480-500 to Rs 170-200 per kg. This fall in price was linked to export restrictions as well. Farmers couldn’t recover even the cost of silkworm eggs. Both the sericulturists mentioned that market officials blamed the poor quality of cocoon also for the low rate offered, pointing at damp weather. But the farmers were confident that cocoons were of the same quality as the lot they had sold during January-February, in the same market. Government apathy has fuelled angst in the silk clusters of the state.

The issues with sugarcane cultivation are more complex that they are heavily dependent on post-harvest processing, it is fast turning bitter for all players in the sugar value chain. An exasperated cane grower told us, “...leave it, you won’t understand the complexity. Sugar industry is much larger and dirtier than you and I can think.”

Overall the vegetable farmers have been impacted by failed borewells for some years now, transport restrictions due to COVID-19 added to their loss for at least two months. For cocoon farmers, temporary shrinking of demand during the lockdown added to the long-term issue of price fluctuation driven by low import tariffs or export restrictions. For paddy farmers, the unusually long delay in receiving payment from mills added to their continued woes around support price, irrigation and labour. For farmers growing cane for sugar factories, the usual problems of water and electricity were supplemented by the lockdown driven paucity of migrant labour that delayed the harvest, impacting cane quality and further delaying payment from sugar mills. The adverse impact of the lockdown was bearable for those who relied on local labour, sold the produce locally without delay, and for families with some non-farm employment.

COVID-19 and the lockdown exacerbated the long persisting issues in agrarian Mandya. Water availability has already forced four out of the 10 respondents to scale down paddy, sugarcane and mulberry, and grow more millets and pulses. They rely on small local processing units for jaggery, millets, silk cocoons and oil extraction. With fewer employees, these units can follow mandatory precautions and reopen sooner than the big factories. Experience of family farmers in Mandya pointed to the need to support farming systems aligned with local agro-ecology and embedded in the regional economy that is connected to other more dispersed livelihood clusters – say confectionaries and silk weaving clusters driven by Mandya’s agricultural produce – along with suitable off/non-farm employment.