Impact of COVID-19 on Supply Chain of Major Horticultural Crops in Jammu and Kashmir, India

Abstract

This paper aims to highlight the disruption caused by COVID-19 in the supply-chain of major horticultural crops in Jammu and Kashmir, India which is the most important economic activity in the Union Territory. The paper studies the impact of COVID-19 on the pre-harvesting, harvesting and post-harvesting stages of horticultural supply-chain. Primary Data was collected through the telephonic survey whereby the farmers acknowledged delay in spraying the chemicals and fertilizers which has resulted in increase of pests and weeds in their farmers, This is likely going to impact the quantity as well as quality of the horticultural crops in Jammu and Kashmir. Another group of the respondents, who had stored last year’s produce in Controlled-Atmosphere-Storages (CAS), have failed to find any buyer due to closure of the markets and the consequent fall in demand. The transportation and the storage cost of their stored produce is increasing with each passing day, therefore gradually eroding their profitability. Moreover, the cherry farmers who had reaped a good harvest couldn’t find the buyers and therefore had to dump their produce hitting the economy badly. Longevity of COVID-19 and the subsequent lockdown is severely denting the efficiency of the supply-chain of the horticultural crops in Jammu and Kashmir. The profitability of horticultural sector as a whole is taking a severe hit which will impact the coming years too. With the pandemic yet to peak in India, the government should ramp up the infrastructure, provide timely input to the farmers, bring clarity in the opening of mandis and provide a financial stimulus to restore some normalcy