Reportedly around this time every year, pushcarts bearing juicy watermelons and muskmelons line every corner of chennai city. Now, with the coronavirus pandemic and the lockdown in place across the country, this sign of summer has been missing. Meanwhile, the scene in the farming fields is heartbreaking. Farmers in Chengalpattu and kanchipuram districts who grow these melons are facing a tough time with reducing demand. Alladi Mahadevan, an organic farmer from the region said “A lot of these fruits go to the juice making industry restaurants, juice shops, tea shops, and the likes. But now with the lockdown, farmers are unable to move their produce. They are now abandoning full-grown fruits in their fields”.
Meanwhile Alladi Mahadevan, who has been an organic farmer since 1995, does multi-cropping on his 36 acres of land in Chengalpattu district. While he is doing fine, the same can't be said for farmers in five villages surrounding his land. Watermelon, which has a 55-60 day crop cycle, begins turning yellow after the 60th day. Therefore, it is important for the farmers to move their produce within a few days from picking. Gagandeep Singh Bedi, Agricultural Production Commissioner and Principal Secretary, acknowledges the problems faced by watermelon farmers. He said “We have been giving it a lot of push. In our meetings with wholesale sellers and retailers, we have been asking especially to boost the sale of watermelons. The Horticulture Department too has been adding watermelons to its fruit kits on the eThottam website so its sale is increased”.
Moreover, the chennai Corporation has been operating over 4,000 pushcarts so watermelon too is being taken to the streets. We have reduced the pressure on the non-sale of these fruits. Also, every day, we are sending loads to Andhra Pradesh. We are giving the best push to sell the watermelons.
click and follow Indiaherald WhatsApp channel