Report:

Impact of COVID-19 on small

scale rice farmers in India
Introduction
· Global, National and local backgrounds of
agricultural industry

● Agriculture is both an old and a new industry

with constantly evolving forms of production.
● Asia Pacific was the largest region in the
global agriculture market, accounting for 57%
of the market in 2019. South America was
the second largest region accounting for 12%
of the global agriculture market. Middle East
was the smallest region in the global
agriculture market.
· Global, National and local backgrounds of
agricultural industry

● The main source of livelihood for

approximately 58% of the Indian population is
the agriculture sector.
● Gross Value Added in agriculture, forestry
and fisheries was estimated at 19.48 lakh
crore ($ 276.37 billion) in 20 years in India.
● India’s agricultural industry is among the
most popular industries in the world.
· Global, National and local backgrounds of
agricultural industry

● The Indian food and grocery market is the

sixth largest in the world with retail sales
accounting for 70% of sales.
● The Indian food industry accounts for 32% of
the total food market in the country, is one of
the largest in India and ranks fifth in terms of
production, consumption, exports and
expected growth.
Flow chain and complete block process of
food transportation
 Flow chain and complete block process of
food transportation

● Transportation within fields including collection of harvested crops, Distribution of

fertilizers and seeds, Transporting of firewood, timber and Water, Transportation to
mandis and vice versa.

● Off-farm transportation including transportation to local Markets, Transportation

to grinding mills, Transport of industrial products (commercial fertilizers,
implements, seeds, etc) from markets to mandis, and Transportation to towns and
bigger market
Flow chain and complete block process of
food transportation
● There are two ways by which the crops are
reached to consumers Directly by farmers:
So the farmers grow the crops, harvest
them and the sell those crops in mandis
and 5 through mandis it reaches to
consumers by consolidators: Consolidators
buy crops on fields and pay farmers there
itself and aggregate the produce and then
sell the crops in mandis or store in cold
storages. From there it goes to mandis or
APMC markets where retail buyers
purchase and sell to the end consume
COVID-19 outbreak and effects
 COVID-19 outbreak and effects

● Government of India had imposed a stringent national lockdown from March

24-May 31 which resulted in severe disruptions across food supply chains from
producer to consumer the government has consistently been one step behind in
the terms of preventing these problems.

● When a nationwide blockade of India was announced in March, the instinctive

reaction was a massive exodus of immigrants back to their rural hometowns as
workers moved to wait out the lockdown at home
 COVID-19 outbreak and effects

Effects of COVID-19 on
agriculture

Supply chain
Market and
limitation and Farmer’s health
agricultural prices
shortage

Worker Safety and Restrictions on

Difficulties for
Personal Protective debt and cash flow Work on the farm
Equipment (PPE) rural residents due to dependency
Distribution of crops
and related
problems in India
· State specific crops, markets, and problems

●
 · State specific crops, markets, and problems

● In our country, more than 70% farmers are small and marginal. They lack resources
for optimum quantity of inputs in their crops which are essential for productivity.
● Due to unpredictable and adequate rainfall, rice crops suffer soil erosion. In upland
soils rain water flows down quickly and farmers are not able to conserve the soil
moisture.
 · State specific crops, markets, and problems

● Low soil fertility due to soil erosion resulting in loss of plant nutrients and moisture.
● Low and imbalanced use of fertilizers, low use efficiency of applied fertilizers
particularly in the west Bengal and Uttar Pradesh.
● Heavy infestation of weeds and insects/pests such as blast and brown spot and poor
attention for their timely control.
Rice industry in India
● Rice is the largest produced
Kharif crop in India
● India is the 2nd largest producer
of rice in the world.
● India has the largest area in the
world under rice cultivation
Rice industry in India
Rice industry in India
The top 5 rice producing states are

● West Bengal
● Uttar Pradesh
● Andhra Pradesh
● Punjab
● Tamil Nadu
 Temporary problems faced by Rice farmers
due to COVID-19
● The key problems faced by the farmers are uncertainty within the supply of water, lack of
remunerative income, lack of access to insurance, market and storage facilities.
● Other major problems include:
○ Inadequacy of Farm Equipment.
○ lack of monetary help.
○ Depletion of soil.
○ Illiteracy and lack of unity among farmers.
○ Transportation problems lead to no major distribution.
○ Cost of raw material is high.
 Permanent problems faced by Rice farmers
due to COVID-19
● The pandemic forced farmers to supply low-quality produce which can end in depleting soil
quality and impacting the availability chain in end of the day.
● Health issues caused thanks to COVID-19 are going to be complemented by subsequent
pandemic which can be the food pandemic.
 Permanent problems faced by Rice farmers
due to COVID-19
● Scarcity of availability of the great quality of seeds within the market results in use of normal
seeds which less productive and yields fewer crops.
● According to research data, the typical size of holding of land per farmers is decreasing per
annum.
Government Policies
and NGOs
 · Policies and regulation by government

● A National Policy for Management of Crop Residues is in place, along with a Crop
Diversification Programme.
● Further are schemes to promote in situ and ex situ crop residue management through such
farm equipment as the “happy seeder”, rotavator and baler.
● The National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, National Rural Livelihood Mission and
agro-enterprise related schemes, which could help with the management of paddy stubble or
crop diversification
 · Policies and regulation by government
● Government of India has been very supportive and provided timely exemptions to mitigate
the damage caused by the pandemic. The economic relief package “Aatmanirbhar Bharat
Abhiyan”.
● Currently, over 1.25 lakh panchayats have access to broadband which facilitates farmer to
sell his goods online.
● Purchase from farmers and Farmer Producer Networks (FPN) without the requirement of
going through APMC and encouraging online buying through the e-Nam portals and private
e-mandis like Agri-bazaar is a positive move.
 · Policies and regulation by government
● The Government of India announced the advance release of the first instalment of Rs 2,000 to
each of the 8.69 crore beneficiary farmers.
● Pradhan Mantra Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN), Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana
(PMFBY), increase in Minimum Support Price.
● These reforms illustrate policymakers’ shift in focus away from short-term, COVID-19-related
regulations, and towards the design of India’s agricultural sector in the long term
 NGO Schemes and support provided
● SRI is the acronym for System of Rice Intensification, a new technique to grow rice more efficiently
using much less water and seeds but yielding far greater quantities of rice.
● Murali Dhar Adhikari, who works with Koraput NGO Pragati, exemplifies the spirit of the SRI
missionaries.
● The mission has a target of covering five million ha and is a key element in efforts to push up rice
productivity.
 NGO Schemes and support provided

● The NGO network from Pradhan in Bihar to CROPS in Jalgaon, Andhra Pradesh, has been made
possible through generous funding from private charities.
● NABARD, Shambu Prasad are among the highest contributors
● U S Singh of the International Rice Research Institute’s (IRRI’s) STRASA programme in Delhi insists
that there is no scientific data to corroborate the claims made by SRI proponents.
Agricultural Experts,
End users and
Interviews
 Views of Experts on Pandemic

● Experts believe that if necessary steps are not taken to better the situations then in future a
FOOD PANDEMIC will surely happen.
● Global Agricultural system and food production has seen a drastic fall after COVID because
during the period of March to June the world was in lockdown which led to Travel restrictions,
scarcity of resources and shortage of labour.
 Views of Experts on Pandemic

● COVID-19 has drastically affected the GDP.

● Agriculture contribution to Indian economy in the 2019-20 period was 16.5% and in the
period from April-June period it saw an increased by 3.1%.
 Views of Experts on Pandemic

● This reduction of food supply will then give rise to two other pandemics which are CRIME
PANDEMIC and MEDICAL PANDEMIC.
● Experts said that surely there is a chance that agriculture sector can have good growth post
covid which can have a good impact on farmers but the problems of farmers are not decreasing
with the upcoming pandemics and shortage of resources.
 · Effects on End Users due to quality of crop

● The quality of crops is degraded due to various reasons that is poor quality
water supply.
 · Effects on End Users due to quality of crop

● Climate change will lead to socio-economic losses.

● Other major problem will be moisture or drought stress accounts.
● Salinity stress.
● Ionic toxicity in crop plants.
● Flooding usually occurs with heavy rainfall, poor soil drainage and poor irrigation
practices
 · Effects on End Users due to quality of crop

● Along with these issues the major impact on humanity will be damage to human beings
including losses in crop yields and food supplies.
● The health and wealth of India will be highly impacted.
· Interview of Farmers
Interviewee A: Mrs. Asora Shaikh (a small-scale rice farmer from
Jharkhand and Kolkata)

Background: Raw rice producer and maid in Mumbai.

Interviewee B: Mr. Sunil (a small-scale rice farmer from

Aurangabad)

Background: Processed rice producer and part-time worker in

Mumbai.
 · Interview of Farmers
Questions asked were related to COVID-19 and farm bill.

Q 1) How do you think COVID has affected your sales and profits.
Q 2) Do you know about the farm bill?
Q 3) Are you aware of suicides and burning of farms and protests by farmers in northeastern India? Do
you see any more such possible protests from your area?
Q 4) How are you coping up with losses?
Q 5) Do you have fair chances even due to COVID to sell your produce in mandis and close markets?
 We successfully build on evidence of
the current state of domestic rice
value chain upgrading in India to
anticipate the impacts of the
COVID-19 pandemic on rice value
Conclusion chain resilience and their capacity to
sustain food security in the region.