NEW DELHI : Bhagwan Das, a farmer in the Rakhara region of Patiala, Punjab, looks out to his swaying wheat crop.
It’s ready to be harvested but, unlike other years, there aren’t enough farm hands to do the job. Any further delay will mean months of back-breaking work and investment going to waste.
Das knows the reason labour is scarce. It’s not drought or floods or even a pest—those familiar foes of the farmer. It’s the unseen coronavirus that is ravaging rural India. “We depend on migrant labourers from states such as Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
They have left for their villages. We are not sure how the harvest season will pan out. Will we be able to harvest our rabi crops in time, and then sow new crops in May and June?" he said.