Shrimp farmers in the eastern Indian state of Odisha are experiencing economic difficulties due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has disrupted their export business.
More than 40 million people working in the agriculture, fisheries, and livestock sectors in Odisha have been negatively affected by the outbreak of the deadly virus. Lockdowns have been imposed in Odisha in recent months to contain the spread of the disease, and though travel restrictions were eased in some areas, the lockdowns will be maintained in the containment zones until the end of this month, according to The New Indian Express.
“Low profit and apprehension of unavailability of inputs like seed, feed, and fertilizer at the right time at right price has created fears among us,” Barada Prasanna Nayak, a shrimp farmer and the president of the Hari Sahadev Aqua Farmers’ Welfare Society, told KalingaTV.
Raj Kishore Nayak, another shrimp farmer in the state, said the price fluctuations have sharply lower farmers’ profit and made it difficult for them to continue their farming activities.
Before the pandemic, farmers were paid INR 380 (USD 5.00, EUR 4.30) for a kilogram of shrimp from exporters, which is now reduced to INR 280 (USD 3.70, EUR 3.20) per kilogram. This price is just barely higher than their average production costs of between INR 220 and INR 240 (USD 2.90 and USD 3.20, EUR 2.50 and EUR 2.70) per kilogram, Solidaridad Network Asia Aquaculture Consultant Abhishek Dwivedi said.
There have been fewer orders from buyers abroad, forcing Indian exporters to reduce their material purchases. Shrimp exports from Odisha to the European Union, a major destination for the shrimp from the Indian state, have declined 60 percent since the onset of the pandemic.
Most of the farmers in the state are likely to give up their aquaculture work due to the low profit margins. Others are struggling to decide whether to commit to fully intensive farming or scale back to semi-intensive farming methods.
“We are apprehending that after [the] coronavirus goes [away], there will be an increase in demand. But [until then], there will be dearth of produce, as most of the farmers would have been adapted to some other livelihood options,” Dwivedi said. A large number of workers in the processing factories are also affected by the pandemic, he added.
Odisha had 72,718 cases of the coronavirus, with 390 deaths as of 21 August, according to the Business World.
Photo courtesy of Phensri Ngamsommitr/Shutterstock
