| COVID : Upset with ‘hand to mouth’ sale, farmers in Jammu villages seek financial package | | | Early Times Report
Jammu, May 22: The sugarcane and watermelon farmers of Jammu on Friday demanded a special package from the government due to the falling sales and revenues on account of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The farmers told the government that this year they have had a bumper harvest of sugarcane and watermelon, but could sell only a small portion of their produce due to the restrictions imposed by the coronavirus pandemic. Balbir Ram from the border village of Marh said, “We have had a bumper harvest of sugarcane this year but the standing crop is being destroyed because the demand in the market is very limited.” The three panchayats of this belt grow large quantities of sugarcane which is supplied across the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
“We are supplying only a limited portion of our produce in the market because sugarcane is mostly used in Jammu by juice vendors and shops, but due to COVID, these vendors are not working on a daily basis but only on alternate days,” he said.
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