Letting our agricultural activities getting jolted or adversely impacted by the current measures like lockdown etc in fighting the pandemic of COVID-19 and its aftermaths , must be prevented by all means . The reasons for that hardly need any elucidation. Reports regarding thousands of our farmers in the hilly areas of Jammu region facing scarcity of maize seeds and fertilizers does not augur well due to which sowing activities have been affected and, therefore, delayed in many areas. Well, that could have been averted if things could have been perceived in advance , assessed properly and action taken timely. Farmers in many areas in Poonch , Rajouri, Udhampur , Reasi and Kathua should have by now been busy in post sowing activities but as on date , maize sowing itself has not taken place and, therefore, a delay of two weeks has been caused to take place. Most of the farmers in these areas are of marginal and small categories , depending on one single crop for the entire year and in the very first week of April , sowing activities which otherwise are usually starting have this time, due to reasons of non availability of seeds , been delayed which must be a cause of concern.
Does it need any clarification that lockdown and other restrictions on account of the outbreak of Corona virus epidemic can be endured as there is no alternative but let there be no compromise on treating Agriculture and agricultural activities as top most priority otherwise, the fear that current situation could be followed by food shortages and deficiencies, in whatever magnitude, cannot be allayed. In this hour of grave global crisis , how our agriculture responds to it and how various measures of our Governments – whether at the Centre or in States and UTs, effect positively our farming community is of great importance as besides benefitting the farmers in whatever measure , our country’s economy was going to be greatly influenced by it . Therefore, besides measures taking care of the farmers’ credit needs, rescheduling repayment instalments , interest relief and augmenting their liquidity position , it was of greatest importance that basic inputs needed were readily available to them like seeds, fertilisers, labour wherever needed, and other related facilities.
It is learnt that hybrid seeds procured every year from other states like Andhra Pradesh and Telangana for these farmers in these hilly areas are not developed and grown in Jammu to avoid dependence on supplies from outside the UT of Jammu and Kashmir as the Government Agricultural Farm in Chinore develops wheat and paddy seeds only . It is also learnt that sufficient quantity of these hybrid seeds have already reached here but testing etc is not done so far to declare and certify them fit to be sown. Now that process is about to conclude to resume supplies but now it should be made fast by providing right at the door steps of the concerned farmers in all these districts. Since there is no restriction on the movement of those vehicles which were carrying agricultural inputs and equipment , there should be no difficulty now in providing the seeds and fertilizers to the needy farming community.
It may be reiterated that no carefree approach from concerned authorities could be afforded in respect of dealing with issues concerning our agriculture and allied activities . We cannot afford any shortages on account of fall in the crop output on account of basic inputs and facilities not provided in this sector in reasonable measure and all in time. The entire scenario has to be looked at from the emerging global scenario . Almost all countries are horribly affected by the corona virus pandemic and right from now, most of them have stopped exports of main agricultural products and in case of any shortfall in our crop output , the same is unlikely to be made good by imports, laying , therefore, emphasis on our own resources which warrant maximum attention towards and prioritising agriculture related issues.
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