Jammu, May 22:The sugarcane and watermelon farmers of Jammu on Friday demanded a special package from the government due to the falling sales and revenues on account of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The farmers told the government that this year they have had a bumper harvest of sugarcane and watermelon, but could sell only a small portion of their produce due to the restrictions imposed by the coronavirus pandemic. Balbir Ram from the border village of Marh said, “We have had a bumper harvest of sugarcane this year but the standing crop is being destroyed because the demand in the market is very limited.”The three panchayats of this belt grow large quantities of sugarcane which is supplied across the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.”We are supplying only a limited portion of our produce in the market because sugarcane is mostly used in Jammu by juice vendors and shops, but due to COVID, these vendors are not working on a daily basis but only on alternate days,” he said.The farmer said that even though summer season is here but there is very little demand for sugarcane juice among the people as very few of them are venturing out due to coronavirus fear and added, “We are supplying only a limited amount to the market and the remaining is being used as fodder for the cattle.”He said that the crop can be used as fodder only till the sugarcane is juicy. But once it dries up, it becomes rough and hard and animals can’t chew it, hence it gets wasted.
“Therefore we demand that the government come up with some financial package for the sugarcane growers because it is the only source of income for us,” he added.A watermelon farmer from Phallan Mandal said, “We have grown watermelons in several acres of land and supplied it to the mandi’s in Jammu. But the fruit dealers are buying only a limited stock from us. In such a scenario we do not bring back the unsold watermelons. Either we feed them to the stray cattle or distribute it among the needy.”
“Normally it costs us around Rs one lakh to grow watermelons and in return we earn approximately Rs 3 lakh or more, but this year, so far, we have managed to earn just Rs 35,000 to Rs 40,000 only,” he said. The farmers threatened to commit suicide if the situation continues like this saying they are finding it difficult to feed their families or meet their other expenses.
Former MLA from Gajansoo-Marh constituency, Sukhnandan Choudhary said, “In this belt around 500 to 600 families are dependent on sugarcane and the profit earned from this, helps a farmers meet his livelihood expenses throughout the year.”
“Due to the corona pandemic this season despite a bumper crop, the farmers are unable to sell their crops in the market as the demand is very low,” he said adding that “government should frame a policy for these farmers at the earliest and give some kind of financial relief”.
“Sugarcane was produced on more than 100 acres of land in these three panchayats this year and it is the only source of income for them,” he said adding that “if help is not provided to them then the farmers might end up suffering a loss of approximately more than Rs 4 to 5 crore this season”.Director Agriculture Jammu, Inderjit Kumar told UNI, “Sugarcane farmers have conveyed their concerns to us in this regard and their issue will be resolved accordingly.”We will also be allotting slots to sugarcane growers outside mandi’s so that their standing crop can be sold and they do not suffer losses,” said the Director.
Farmers in Jammu villages seek financial package
