Miscellaneous
In episode 36 of ThoughtSpace, Yamini Aiyar, President & Chief Executive of CPR, speaks with Pravesh Sharma, former IAS officer and CEO of Kamatan Farms Pvt. Ltd., and Dr Mekhala Krishnamurthy, Senior Fellow at CPR. The agriculture economy in India came to halt with the 21-day national lockdown. Supply chains have broken down, labour is in short supply and there has been a surge in food prices, leading to a drop in food availability. This comes at a time when farmers were gearing up to harvest the rabi crop and have raised issues about the difficulty anticipated in harvesting and brining the crop to market. What role does agriculture play as we think about the economic consequences of COVID-19, and what can India do to ensure that challenges we’ve experienced in the past 21 days do not extend further? Sharma and Krishnamurthy talk about why food supply chains have broken down, what the lockdown means for the farmer, and what the Indian government should be doing to ensure both farmers and consumers are protected. They recommend a revival of government procurement and the mandi within the next few week so farmers can continue trading, while ensuring that all aspects of the supply chain remodel themselves to the new normal of social distancing. This is the fourth in a series of episodes by the Centre for Policy Research on the unfolding coronavirus pandemic in India. You can follow the Centre’s work on Covid-19 on Twitter: https://twitter.com/CPR_India or visit www.cprindia.org. You can listen to all the episodes in the Coronavirus Conversation series here: https://bit.ly/2JXygcM.