We Survive Because of them. Let’s Save the Farmer!

Imagine spending three to four months of your time toiling the ground doing back-breaking work in the scorching sun only to realise that you are debt-ridden and that your harvest won’t even feed your family. This is normal for Indian farmers. 

As a nationwide lockdown has confined a record 1.3 billion Indians to their homes since March 24th, one of the hardest communities that have been hit are the Indian farmers. Heartbreaking images of farmers standing amidst swathes of rotting fruits, vegetables and grains flooded newspapers and the Television. 

“We take our produce to the mandi (market) and I was forced to sell four quintals(400 kilos) of chilli at Rs 10 per kg as against a normal price of Rs 40,” said Lekhi Ram, a smallholder farmer from Khairpur village. 

In another heartwrenching incident, Lekhi Ram’s neighbour set his fields on fire as he was unable to harvest the crop in time. 

April and May is normally a time of hard work and celebration. It’s a time when crops like wheat, chickpea, barley, flaxseed, pea, potato, mustard plant, cotton and millet are reaped and sold. However, this Corona pandemic and the lockdown means that this cannot happen. Burdened by debt and with no way to transport his harvest and sell his produce, a watermelon farmer from Bidar committed suicide. This is just one of the many suicide cases that have been reported during this lockdown. 

A staggering 700 million people in India rely directly or indirectly on agriculture derived livelihood. With the unavailability of labour to harvest the crop, a farmer from Maharashtra ended his life. 

Things have always been hard for farmers. This outbreak has triggered a much bigger disaster - a collapse in supply leading to a food shortage across the country. 

Many farmers had a great harvest this year-round and would’ve been able to clear off their debts. However, the low demand has pushed the price to nearly one-tenth of its fraction. Only those who are rich enough to store the harvest can survive.

We have always taken our farmers for granted. A vegetable or a fruit travels a long way along the fragmented supply chain to our plate. The Corona pandemic has crippled the supply chain and has ruthlessly hurt the farmers, the people because of whom our plates are filled. With a strict lockdown implemented across the nation, the supply chain was fractured. 

“The poorest of the poor cannot afford to buy these vegetables and fruits. The rich and the middle class are very constrained in their consumption. They will buy the bare minimum because they are uncertain about the times to come.”
said Ajay Vir Jakhar, head of the Bharat Krishak Samaj

At Donatekart, we’re striving to help farmers sell their fresh produce. In this initiative, we’ll help the farmers harvest their crops. We’ll procure the harvest and provide it to the elderly, orphaned children and the daily wage labourers. Through this initiative, we will bridge the gap between the consumer and the farmer using our resources. 

The donation that you give will not just feed a family in need. It will help a debt-ridden farmer survive this crisis by selling their harvest. 

The kits that you contribute to can help provide fresh produce to the old age homes and to the orphanages in Delhi, Pune and Ahmedabad. By doing this, we also reduce the risk the farmers often face while dealing with the middlemen. Amidst this crisis, with your help, we can provide fresh vegetables to the one who needs it the most. 

We have had food all our lives thanks to the hard work of millions of farmers in the country. 

Invest in a farmer, today!

Beneficiary NGOs:

1. Sparsh Trust - Sparsh is a trust registered that has been formed on the principle of “Jivdaya” which means being kind towards all living beings and helping them. Their core activities involve animal/ bird welfare, as well as Educational and Medical help to under-served people. Following the motto of “Helping those who help others”, Sparsh believes in the concept of being a support system for the organisations working in different spaces of Human and Animal Welfare, and to encourage them to achieve more in their respective fields of work.

2. Omashram Trust - Omashram Trust-Old Age Care, is a charitable trust founded in the year 2001 with the objective of providing care and succor to the old. Omashram provides residential care with full boarding & lodging facility to the old with medical care nursing care to the old, belonging mostly to poor & middle class individuals (above 60 years of age) of all denominations. At Omashram Old Age Homes we have above 75 old, neglected souls being cared for. The Trust has already traveled a long way and addressed the needs of infinite number of parents. The travel has been days of struggle and considerable odds to keep the fledgling institution afloat. 

3. Apnalaya - Working with individuals, groups and communities, Apnalaya’s aim is to empower the disadvantaged to overcome the many social, political and economic barriers they face, and to help them access opportunities that lead to a better quality of life.