Assam: Pumpkin Farmer Struggles to Sell 200 Quintals of Produce amid Virus Lockdown

Morigaon, April 11, 2020:

"Will anybody buy my pumpkins?" wondered Sanjib Das, a pumpkin farmer hailing from Jhargaon in Morigaon district in Assam. After an especially productive year, which saw his 9-bigha farm yield as much as 200 quintals of produce, he now stared at the unwelcome proposition of staring at a huge loss. Amidst the 21-day lockdown which has halted the economy, Das' batch of precious pumpkins, surprisingly, had no takers and stood the chance of rotting away.

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"This is the first time I had grown pumpkins on my soil. This time, I had undertaken the farming of this particular vegetable after we came to know that it yields lucrative results. However, to my utter disappointment, I found that there was no supply, no whole-seller who could be contacted to distribute them at a local level", Das, who is also a phD scholar under Gauhati University, informed Inside Northeast today.

That is where the world wide web came into the picture. Das took to the medium of social media in a bid to inform people that he had an excellent batch of pumpkins that needed to be sold in the marker. "I initially posted about the situation on Facebook. It had been 5 days and I was roaming here and there, for I was at the end of my tether and had no clue what to do. I tagged my friends, and they took it to their friends, and the news started circulating online that there is such is a huge quantity of pumpkins that is yet to be sold."

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Initially, in a post that he posted on his timeline, Das tagged 27 of his friends who would eventually go on to post on Facebook pages, bringing light to his situation. Das said that he blames no one for his predicament, and he used social media as an advertising platform. "For 5 days, I was searching for channels. The Government officials too are busy, I realized, for it is a time of emergency. I advertised online, which was my last resort, so that I could sell my produce."

It seems like his post came just in the nick of time. Now, after repeated postings on social media over the last 5 days, the eyes of the local administration seem to have opened up to the plight of this local pumpkin entrepreneur.

"I found that there was no supply, no whole-seller who could be contacted to distribute them at a local level"

A jubilant Das has informed us that the Inspector of Food and Civil Supplies of Marigoan has contacted him and said that arrangements will be made to sell his produce. "The order seems to have come from the DC level and I have been promised that within 2-3 days, they will pick up my produce."

Although Das's story seems poised to be heading towards a fairytale ending, all growers and cultivators have not been so lucky. Assam, in recent weeks, has seen wasted of huge amounts of as the supplier to consumer chain has been snapped off in the midst of the lockdown, which is likely to be extended till April 30.

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