Purnimaben of Bodeli Taluka of Gujarat says that the farmers from Panej and Chundali villages of Chota Udaipur district grew cotton. The harvested cotton was in the field when the lockdown was announced. It was peak harvest time and farmers were waiting for the labourers. With the lockdown, the movement of the male farmers was restricted. Women were going to the farm to harvest whatever they can and to take out cotton from the field. But all of a sudden it rained. And all the standing harvest in the field were damaged. Late harvests mean lower yields, reduced returns, and a fade chance for the next season’s crops besides leaving crops vulnerable to rain and hailstorms. What they will do now?
Jayaben Sanjaybhai Kodi of Vanki village of Chota Udaipur district says that when our minds were gripped with the fear of COVID-19, we felt little sense of relief on hearing that ginning mills have opened. Like me, there are other farmers and my relatives in other villages who had cotton harvest placed in our small homes. We went to the ginning mill with the hope that we will be able to sell it and get money so there are fair chances for our next season. But to our surprise, the ginning mill owners told us to keep the cotton instead of selling it now with some lumpsum money against the stock with a reason that they are not getting outside orders and labourers are also limited.
Anjanaben of Rajpur village of Chota Udaipur District of Gujarat says, “I had harvested cotton 35 mann and kept it at my home, waiting to supply to ginning mill when the lockdown was announced. Transportation was at a standstill and so is my cotton. If I can’t sell the cotton to the ginning mill, then how will I get money to buy seeds and fertilizer and to pay the labour to loosen the soil? I had taken a loan with a hope of a good season and recover the loss of the earlier season but how will I repay the loan? Now no one will give a loan to me so how will I start my new season? My husband doesn’t go out of the house because of the lockdown and he is tensed. He starts quarrel between us for no reason. I am also worried about what to feed my children. Currently, the government has given a ration, but how will I feed my children next month if the situation persists for long? There are four members to feed in my house, how will I manage? Hunger will kill us before COVID-19.”
Heenaben of Surendranagar district of Gujarat says that our 1000 to 1500 women farmers from Randalper, Mangarh, Chotila, Mayaper, etc from Halvad district are worried about the cotton seeds. They start sowing the cotton from May end and thus they need certified seeds of cotton so timely sowing is done. But the market has limited certified seeds may be due to labour shortage resulting in limited seed plots. Will we get seeds? Will it be certified? What will be the price? Where will we get money from? All these questions gripped the minds of the women farmers. They are worried about how our cotton season will work when we are facing a problem right at the beginning of the season. They were sharing their pain saying that sesame and castor had been sown in the fields while this is the season to take out and start preparing land for cotton so that we can start sowing cotton in May end, the current situation is that that we are unable to take out harvest due to limited movement and absence of labourers due to the lockdown. The cutting has to be done only by women and thus has become slow and on top of it, we faced unseasonal rain in Halvad which destroyed our produce. Now we are unable to harvest rabi, and unable to prepare for the cotton sowing. What does do? Where do we go? Whom to speak to? We have literally washed off all hopes. 
SEWA’s 1.9 million women members are small and marginal family farmers who are hardest hit due to the lockdown to contain the spread of COVID-19 pandemic. On top of it, there were unseasonal rains and hailstorm. While the Government has announced timely measures to support the farmers, specifically, small and marginal farmers including the cotton and cumin cultivators that are affected due to inactive supply chain actors. The connect based textile supply chain is connected to the global textile market and while the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the entire world, the people are clueless about the future of textile demands which is affecting the current buying process of cotton. The farmers who were able to harvest their cotton and stored it at home with hopes to sell it once the procurement at the market yard resumes are now feeling helpless.
COVID-19 stuck right at the peak time of the cotton cultivation. Gujarat is one of the largest cotton-producing states in India. The cotton farmers were hopeful for the current season because the last two seasons, cotton farmers suffered from poor seed germination due to bad weather conditions. This year, the rabi season gave them a pandemic shock and unseasonal rains and hailstorms in some of the states had spoiled the cotton crop. Similar is the case in cumin and caster where the farmers have stored it with a hope to open the market but the market yards are closed down.
Commodity crops such as cotton, cumin, and caster provide economic security while Rabi season provides food security to our members who are small and marginal farmers. With the current situation, cotton cultivators are hardest hit because the current season and the next monsoon season ar both affected by the pandemic and the unseasonably rains.
The government has ensured the opening of the ginning mills but the ginning mills are operating with limited activities due to lack of labour and unclear future market conditions. They are just procuring cotton and not buying it because the future market conditions are unclear as the pandemic has affected the global market. The cotton importing countries are also affected and have closed down their operations. Currently, some ginning mills offer just 10 to 25% as advance with forward contracting to sell at the market price when the markets open. In this situation, there are dim changes that the small farmers will get their decent support prices.
The current situation is worrisome and the future is also dim. Currently, nearly 60 million people depend on cotton cultivation, marketing, processing and exports for their livelihood. India accounts for around 37.5% of the global cotton area and contributes to 26% of global cotton production. Cotton is an immensely important crop for the sustainable economy of India and many people’s livelihood depends on cotton farming.
In terms of cumin farming, the farmers had a good harvest this season but they are unable to sell these due to the lockdown of market yards. In order to be able to sow in time for the next season, it is essential that farmers can sell their cumin now so they get some cash to buy seeds and pay for the labour to start working on the fields. The practice of forwarding the sale contract in the current situation is worrisome. How will these vulnerable farmers get the right price which can cover their costs?
Considering the above situation, SEWA, on behalf of small and marginal farmers, proposes to the government the following:
- The government to arrange for the transport facilities to pick up the ready harvest from the fields and bring it to the market. This is to avoid the exploitation of farmers by transport operators. The government to also consider providing transport subsidy to the small farmers.
- To ensure that auctions of cotton and cumin resume with immediate effect in market yards of Chota Udaipur, Surendranagar, Patan. In such crises situation, the farmer’s organizations need to be given special consideration.
- Government to procure the entire Rabi crop of cumin chickpeas and cotton or to declare minimum support prices with immediate effect. (SEWA)
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