Preliminary results of an ongoing study by the Centre for Sustainable Employment of Azim Premji University (APU) indicate that the lockdown has had a devastating impact on the livelihood security of the working people. The survey is currently being conducted across the country by the Centre for Sustainable Employment along with civil society organisations. Impact on livelihoods Analysis of preliminary data collected through telephonic interviews between 13th April, 2020 and 9th May, 2020...

-Newsclick.in Several nomadic people usually set out in March on traditional routes, where animals feed on vegetation. Once lockdown is lifted and kharif sowing starts, the animals will be left with nothing to chew on. Pastoral nomads stranded in the lockdown in Rajasthan’s desert region since March 25, are worried about feeding their animals, as once the lockdown lifts, the summer heat would have dried out vegetation on their traditional routes. The seasonal...

-TheThirdPole.net India’s pandemic-forced lockdown has plunged agriculture into a crisis that needs immediate cash transfers to bail out smallholder farmers preparing for the summer cropping season India’s complete lockdown to contain the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic has upended the agrarian economy of the South Asian nation. It could have a serious impact on farm production in the main summer cropping season, work for which starts in May. Farmers in India are no...

-Society for Social and Economic Research The sudden announcement of a national lockdown to contain the spread of COVID-19 has resulted in a severe disruption of food supply chains. The lockdown was announced without any preparation, and nothing was mentioned about excluding agricultural production and marketing operations from the purview of the lockdown when the Prime Minister first announced these restrictions. Once the lockdown was announced, governments scrambled to keep the...

-Scroll.in Vegetable farmers are already reeling under losses and wheat farmers are worried about labour shortages. The wheat crop on Sukbhir Singh’s four acres of land 20 km from Ludhiana in Punjab will be ready for harvest next week. Plentiful rain and an unusually cold winter, said the farmer, is set to increase the yields. But he is worried about the lockdown: would he be able to harvest and transport the grain under...