EARLY TIMES REPORT
UDHAMPUR, June 9: Farmers engaged in sericulture farming in Udhampur have demanded the opening of the Cocoon Auction Market as they are bearing losses amid COVID-19 crisis. Asha Devi, a farmer said, “All women in Larh village are employed in this sector. We used to manage our financial expenses by selling cocoons, but due to lockdown we are bearing huge losses.” “We would request the government to open the mandis soon. Villagers here are really stressed as they do not have any other mode of earning. All women of this village are engaged in this work,” she added.
Krishan Lal from Larh Panchayat, Ward Number 4, said that business of a large number of these women engaged in cocoon production has been hit badly. “We want that mandi should be opened here only so that they can sell cocoon here itself. They used to sell cocoons before June but we this year it was not possible due to the prolonged lockdown,” he said.
“We used to sell cocoons in Udhampur, now we demand that a Mandi is set up in our village so that the cocoons can be sold here,” he added. 95 per cent of the women from Ghordi Block are engaged in this business. We appeal to Deputy Commissioner Udhampur Dr Piyush Singla to allow selling cocoons in the markets,” another farmer said. |
