NW DELHI: From allowing all agricultural and related activities including fisheries, plantation, animal husbandry from 20 April to introducing farm sector reforms, India is trying to sequester its rural population from the coronavirus pandemic’ fallout.
Given that this is a harvesting season for winter crops and mandis need to be open for the sale of crops, the Union home ministry order issued on Wednesday allowed “all agricultural and horticultural activities to remain fully functional." The order also reflected the Union government’ strategy of using the crisis to initiate reforms, a case in point being the reforming of Agricultural Produce Market Committees (APMCs).