With the country amid a pandemic, a major issue that has happened is the unprecedented rise in the rate of petrol and diesel. The rates are increasing day by day and now are touching record highs. The period between June 6 to June 23, diesel has increased by Rs. 18 per litre.
This is adding to the woes of the farmers’ as this adds further burden on them. When the lockdown was started from March 22 the price of diesel in the national capital was Rs. 62.29 per litre but now the price is at Rs. 80.19 per litre.
The current season is of the Kharif crops and many farmers are dependent on machines to do their work. From tractors to water pumping sets to rotavator everything runs on diesel, and such a huge increase in demand is bound to affect it. Another problem is that most of the farmers don’t own these machines but lease it for some time and pay rent for the services as they are not financially well off to buy these machines so an increase in the rates of diesel will raise the cost of renting these vehicles.
The effect is not only direct but also indirect as farmers depend on fertilisers, seeds, insecticides and pesticides for their crops and as they are not locally produced they are transported by various companies to these areas and an increase in diesel prices means an increase in the rate of products thus adding the burden on the farmers.
The situation must be addressed as the farmers expect a good crop after a strong onset of the monsoon which will not help them but will also help a COVID hit economy recover and at such an important juncture no farmer should be denied any services or products due to lack of money.
