Tractors to Trucks
The extended lockdown saw consumers like us struggling to secure basic vegetable and fruit supplies. As soon as the Lockdown was announced the hysterical hoarding led to limited access to fresh produce. But after the main markets were shut due to positive cases it was a nightmare like never before.
It’s Day 30 of the lockdown. For little over a week we have been getting all our vegetables & fruits directly from the farmers of Nashik.
Farmers know how to cultivate their crops but have no idea how to market their produce. Since forever they have depended on the middlemen at the local mandis to sell their wares. The pandemic with its requirements of social distancing created an opportunity like never before. The final push came when the main markets in Navi Mumbai were shut down. Our farmers finally became entrepreneurs.
Residential complexes like ours were getting very limited supplies at exorbitant prices. We the urban bred population have never dealt with farmers directly. We’ve depended completely on the local vegetable markets. Necessity is the mother of invention. As our markets shut shop we looked directly towards the farmers in nearby Nashik.
They responded and how! We order and they provide. Fresh produce at reasonable rates. Everyday the trucks come from the farms of Nashik directly to our doorstep. As we get comfortable with this supply chain our horizons are widening further to farmers in Devgad for our supply of Alphonsos.
The lockdown has made this farm-to-home a new normal. I doubt this genie will go back into the bottle once this is over. Maybe ordering fresh produce from farmers will remain as common as ordering food from Zomato.
