Limited options to sell produce leave farmers in Kozhikode disgruntled

They demand special procurement drive by government

With the closure of wholesale markets across the State and restrictions on inter-State goods movement due to the pandemic, hillside farmers in Kozhikode are finding it tough to sell their produce. The pandemic has hit leading private agencies and agriculture intermediaries that earlier facilitated the export of agriculture produce to foreign countries or transported them to other States. Owners of agri-based value-added product units say they have been feeling the heat of the COVID-19 lockdown for over a year. “Coconut farmers who used to sell their stock to inter-State agents in the industry before the pandemic outbreak are now left with no option to clear the stock. We will be forced to accept the offers of small-scale buyers, which will be very less than the standard market rates,” says Biju Purayidathil, owner of a coconut plantation in Thiruvambady. According to him, the crisis will end only with the launch of a special procurement drive by the government.