Giving support to Indian farmers during Covid pandemic

Ganesh Nanote of Nimbhara in Akola district of Maharashtra has been a progressive farmer and besides growing Cotton, Papaya, Soybean among others, is also widely travelled. All was hunky dory till Nanote, like millions of his fellow farmers across the country, were hit by the Covid lockdown. 

“The impact was instant and severe as we had to struggle for inputs and market access,” said Nanote. While Nanote is relatively well-off and managed to pull through, the situation was tough for over 120 million smallholder farmers, who remain at the brink of vulnerabilities. Thanks to a surge of generous help from across the country including a very robust government support, what initially looked like an impending disaster ended up being a well-managed crisis.

The Government of India was quick to announce a slew of measures the moment it realized that agriculture needed to continue with the same momentum. Among others, the Home Ministry and Ministry of Agriculture issued orders Government allowing inter-state and intra-state movement of agriculture produce, agri machineries and inputs. PM Narendra Modi announced a relief of Rs 1.70 lakh crore under PM Garib Kalyan Yojana. Subsequently in June, the scheme was extended till end of November. In what came as a major, and instant relief to millions, the Government announced that the first installment of Rs 2000 to farmers due in 2020-21, covering 8.7 crore farmers, would be front-loaded and paid in April under the PM Kisan Yojana.

Along with robust government support came a slew of CSR programs designed to help farmers.

ITC’s Agribusiness team started to respond to farmers’ needs by using its digital advisory application E-Choupal to procure produce. E-choupal helped farmers by providing information about market demand of their produce, market prices etc. to enable them to make informed decisions and fetch competitive prices in the markets. What came as relief to many was the procurement of farm produce by ITC directly from farmers locations. It also introduced supply chain interventions like multi- point rake movements, and coastal container movements to ensure uninterrupted movement of produce.

Yara International worked with the local government authorities in India, their vendors, suppliers and transporters to resume operations which were critical for supplying seeds and inputs to farmers for the next cropping season.

TAFE – Tractors and Farm Equipment Limited, India’s second and world’s third largest tractor manufacturer by volumes, had launched a Free Tractor Rental Service for farmers in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu, from April 1, 2020, for a period of 90 days.

Aimed at strengthening the government’s response to Covid-19 pandemic and also reaching out to vulnerable sections of the society, India’s leading agriculture company, Syngenta has launched a number of outreach, awareness, intervention and support initiatives across the country.

Syngenta along with The Syngenta Foundation India (SFI), in a unique awareness and education initiative, are reaching out to 5 lakh farmers in the states of Maharashtra, Bihar, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Odisha, and Telangana through its network of trained 2700 trained Agri Entrepreneurs (AEs). It is designed to sensitize farmers about Covid-19 and create awareness on hygiene and sanitation, as well as connect them to ASHA workers and district health authorities. In addition, to help navigate through these difficult times with restrictions on the movement, the AEs are assisting growers by way of providing market linkages and associate grading, sorting and agronomy advice during harvest, and preparing them for upcoming the season.

Among others, they also launched a nationwide tele-consultation initiative called Syngenta Kisan Helpline. Farmers could place a toll-free call on Syngenta Kisan Helpline Number 1800-1-215-315 from both landline and mobile phones for free crop advisory as well as any other information on agriculture issues that the farmers were facing in these unprecedented times of restricted movement due to Covid-19 situation in the country.

Rafael Del Rio, Managing Director, Syngenta India Limited said, “Farmers are at the center of everything we do and at a time when the farmers are approaching harvest and preparing for the Kharif season, it is paramount that proper advisories are given to the farmers. Our awareness programs and toll-free helpline are aimed at empowering them with the right information. The initiatives to support healthcare and sanitation workers besides poor families are a part of our commitment to give back to the society.”

Dr KC Ravi, Chief Sustainability Officer, Syngenta India Limited added, “By launching these varieties of initiatives, we intend to ensure that farmers are able to carry out their regular agriculture activities with right knowledge, while staying safe from the adverse effects of the pandemic. At the same time, our support programs for healthcare workers and underprivileged groups will continue to be driven by a sense of empathy and social responsibility.” He added that “Since the March 2020 lockdown, our AE’s have helped 12,290 smallholder farmers sell 6642 metric tons of produce and have enabled them earn INR 4.87 crores.”

Hindustan Zinc, through its farm-based sustainable livelihood programme – Samadhan – played a key role in empowering over 10,000 farmers and their families in wake of Covid-19 pandemic. Launched in 2016, in association with BAIF, Samadhan programme traditionally offers agriculture interventions using farmer interest groups – aimed at improving production and sustainability practices.

Nanote says, all these corporate programs, coupled with government’s interventions helped farmers a great deal during the Covid pandemic.