India: Kerala strawberry farmers facing COVID-19 slump

Many took to cultivating the fruit after promises of procurement. The farmers of strawberry in Kanthallur and Vattavada have lost their entire crops of two consecutive seasons in the wake of the SARS-CoV-2 wave. Promoted by VFCPK (Vegetable and Fruit Promotion Council, Kerala), many farmers turned to strawberry cultivation after a steady growth was seen in agri-based tourism in the two cool-season vegetable cultivating villages close to Munnar. Unlike other fruits, the shelf life of strawberries is one or two days. The farmers used to sell the fruits to the tourists reaching the farms and they got good prices for it. When the first wave of COVID-19 hit the State in March last year, farm tourism was in the doldrums. In the second wave, farm tourism was badly hit in the two villages. One of the attractions of the farmers to cultivate strawberry was that it was found congenial to the climate and soil condition in the region. The harvesting season of strawberries is from March to May. ...