Covid an opportunity for agri reforms

The virus outbreak is likely to have a lasting impact on farming, especially on the way crops are sown, harvested and disposed of

Covid-19 may have nothing to do with crops, but its outbreak is likely to have a lasting im­pact on farming, especially on the way crops are sown, harvested and disposed of. The labour crunch caused by the out-migration of workers due to this pandemic and the need to observe health precautions at all places have already triggered several modifications in conducting farm operations. Many of these changes can be expected to en­dure even after the eradication of this virus. Prominent among these are: gre­ater mechanisation of land preparation, sowing and harvesting operations; procurement of foodgrains through the co­upon system; deemed