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The continued effects of COVID-19 on the lives and livelihoods of vegetable farmers in India

India experienced a rapid rise in COVID-19 infections from March 2021. States imposed varying levels of lockdowns and curfews to curb the spread of the disease. These restrictions severely affected the functioning of food systems. The objective of this study was to analyze how COVID-19 continues to...

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Autores principales: Kumar, Sandhya S., Schreinemachers, Pepijn, Pal, Arshad Ahmad, Manickam, Ravishankar, Nair, Ramakrishnan M., Srinivasan, Ramasamy, Harris, Jody
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9810155/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36595541
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0279026
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author Kumar, Sandhya S.
Schreinemachers, Pepijn
Pal, Arshad Ahmad
Manickam, Ravishankar
Nair, Ramakrishnan M.
Srinivasan, Ramasamy
Harris, Jody
author_facet Kumar, Sandhya S.
Schreinemachers, Pepijn
Pal, Arshad Ahmad
Manickam, Ravishankar
Nair, Ramakrishnan M.
Srinivasan, Ramasamy
Harris, Jody
author_sort Kumar, Sandhya S.
collection PubMed
description India experienced a rapid rise in COVID-19 infections from March 2021. States imposed varying levels of lockdowns and curfews to curb the spread of the disease. These restrictions severely affected the functioning of food systems. The objective of this study was to analyze how COVID-19 continues to affect agricultural production, food security and household diets of vegetable farmers. A phone-based survey was conducted with 595 vegetable farmers in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Jharkhand, Karnataka and Odisha, 60% of whom had been interviewed a year earlier. Overall, 60% of farmers experienced decreased vegetable production; over 80% reported a reduction in consumption of at least one food group; and 45% reported some level of food insecurity between May 2020 and May 2021. Farmers who reported decreased staples production, difficulty accessing seeds/seedlings, or reduced their household spending were more likely to report decreased vegetable production. Vegetable consumption was positively associated with receipt of COVID-19 relief benefits, borrowing money, or having home gardens. Farmers who received public agricultural assistance, or had reduced expenses, were more likely to have lower vegetable consumption. Greater severity of food insecurity was associated with farmers belonging to underprivileged social groups, non-Hindus, or those who experienced decrease in livestock production, weather related disruptions or received COVID-19 assistance. This is one of few studies that have conducted a longitudinal assessment of the impacts across multiple waves of COVID-19. COVID-19 is seen to be one among several shocks experienced by farm households, and exacerbated existing issues within agriculture and food security. There is a need for public policy support to strengthen both production and consumption of vegetables.
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spelling pubmed-98101552023-01-04 The continued effects of COVID-19 on the lives and livelihoods of vegetable farmers in India Kumar, Sandhya S. Schreinemachers, Pepijn Pal, Arshad Ahmad Manickam, Ravishankar Nair, Ramakrishnan M. Srinivasan, Ramasamy Harris, Jody PLoS One Research Article India experienced a rapid rise in COVID-19 infections from March 2021. States imposed varying levels of lockdowns and curfews to curb the spread of the disease. These restrictions severely affected the functioning of food systems. The objective of this study was to analyze how COVID-19 continues to affect agricultural production, food security and household diets of vegetable farmers. A phone-based survey was conducted with 595 vegetable farmers in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Jharkhand, Karnataka and Odisha, 60% of whom had been interviewed a year earlier. Overall, 60% of farmers experienced decreased vegetable production; over 80% reported a reduction in consumption of at least one food group; and 45% reported some level of food insecurity between May 2020 and May 2021. Farmers who reported decreased staples production, difficulty accessing seeds/seedlings, or reduced their household spending were more likely to report decreased vegetable production. Vegetable consumption was positively associated with receipt of COVID-19 relief benefits, borrowing money, or having home gardens. Farmers who received public agricultural assistance, or had reduced expenses, were more likely to have lower vegetable consumption. Greater severity of food insecurity was associated with farmers belonging to underprivileged social groups, non-Hindus, or those who experienced decrease in livestock production, weather related disruptions or received COVID-19 assistance. This is one of few studies that have conducted a longitudinal assessment of the impacts across multiple waves of COVID-19. COVID-19 is seen to be one among several shocks experienced by farm households, and exacerbated existing issues within agriculture and food security. There is a need for public policy support to strengthen both production and consumption of vegetables. Public Library of Science 2023-01-03 /pmc/articles/PMC9810155/ /pubmed/36595541 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0279026 Text en © 2023 Kumar et al https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Kumar, Sandhya S.
Schreinemachers, Pepijn
Pal, Arshad Ahmad
Manickam, Ravishankar
Nair, Ramakrishnan M.
Srinivasan, Ramasamy
Harris, Jody
The continued effects of COVID-19 on the lives and livelihoods of vegetable farmers in India
title The continued effects of COVID-19 on the lives and livelihoods of vegetable farmers in India
title_full The continued effects of COVID-19 on the lives and livelihoods of vegetable farmers in India
title_fullStr The continued effects of COVID-19 on the lives and livelihoods of vegetable farmers in India
title_full_unstemmed The continued effects of COVID-19 on the lives and livelihoods of vegetable farmers in India
title_short The continued effects of COVID-19 on the lives and livelihoods of vegetable farmers in India
title_sort continued effects of covid-19 on the lives and livelihoods of vegetable farmers in india
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9810155/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36595541
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0279026
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