Mandi bandh

The nation-wide lockdown imposed in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic has left farmers in limbo. Jitendra Bangar, a vegetable farmer from Bhiwandi says, “I have a ton of cabbage in store and some standing on the field. The mandi has shut down and local traders are not visiting our village. We manage to keep the crop fresh by spraying water, but I am worried that with rising temperatures, the crop will rot.”

Usually, traders come to the field to procure the vegetables in the rabi season. However, no transporter, big or small, is willing to travel as far as the village now. The mandis are bereft of buyers, and the handful who are there, are buying at significantly marked down prices.

Jitendra is a vegetable farmer from Maharashtra. Nishi and Rajnikant are rural development professionals.