Hopes dwindle for melon farmers in State as shutdown extended

Murugan, a farmer from Koovathur off East Coast Road, said he had cultivated watermelon in two acres of land, the income from which was supposed to support his family for the next 4 to 6 months.

“I used to sell a tonne of watermelon for Rs 10,000 every year. But this year, there are no buyers even at Rs 1,000 per tonne. I invested more than Rs 70,000 for the cultivation. It looks like I won’t even make Rs 20,000 for the more than 20 tonnes of produce I harvested because watermelons are already turning yellow. Once the colour changes, nobody will buy it,” lamented Murugan.

There are hundreds like him in Chengalpattu, Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur districts who used to sell the fruits to juice shops in Chennai.

“They are children of soil; all they know is farming,” said Alladi Mahadevan, a farmer following nature-friendly practices for more than two decades, detailing the plight of farmers from five villages near Koovathur off East Coast Road. He has been trying to help them by selling the melons at apartment complexes in the city.

The government can consider procuring and selling them through Amma Canteens or some other network to help the farmers, Mahadevan suggested.