Farmers across the country continue to suffer due to the curfews imposed to prevent the spread of Covid-19, with some farmers having to sell a kilogramme of brinjals for just Rs. 5 while some are unable to resume their cultivation due to the failure to raise the required monies. All Island Farmers Federation (AIFF) National Organiser Namal Karunaratne told The Sunday Morning that farmers are throwing entire harvests away. “They have no way of selling their produce. I have seen some farmers throwing away tonnes of vegetables because they are old and rotting,” he said. He said that this was the plight of the farmers across the country due to a lack of proper transportation system. Referring to a situation where farmers in the Mullaitivu District had resorted to selling their crops for any price, he said that farmers are being compelled to sell the stocks at extremely low prices. “It is a crime what is happening to these poor people. The Government must take action,” Karunaratne observed. Meanwhile, Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture Neil Bandara Hapuhinna acknowledged that there hadn’t been a proper state distribution network for agricultural produce. “The private sector had distribution channels, but due to the lockdown, all those became inactive. Now, some of those are operating. We realised then that the state machinery to distribute agri goods was lacking,” he said. However, he said the Government was in the process of addressing the problem. “The Presidential Task Force handling the Covid-19 response is already taking steps to fix the problem. I believe even now, the armed forces are helping with the distribution,” he added. – Skandha Gunasekara