A Whole Year Of Corona, Coffee & Koraput

From November 2019 to till now the most irritating and disgusting word that has been used is Coronavirus. That has been spreading its existence all over the world. Now has been a year but the pandemic is going as far as possible. In this last one year many things took place unexpectedly. It has destroyed the economical, medical, educational, social, cultural, political, livelihood, lifestyle and many more things. 

Many migrant workers have lost their job with family and lives too. Economically, GDP of India has decreased unexpectedly. Educationally, the future of students has gone towards the dark room. Schools, colleges and other educational institutions have shut down. Religious institutions have closed. The death rate gas touched the borderline of 10,000. Corona virus has snatched the professions of the people. In roads, from lawyers to theater artists, some were selling vegetables, some were opening tea stalls or some were fruit sellers. 

It was proved that the middle class is the most affected category in this period. Apart from them the beggars suffered a lot. Transgenders who have chosen their profession as begging and dancing have faced the pandemic very badly. People started busy with yoga, kitchen garden, cooking and other creativities with the help of social media. 

World's best scientists have engaged with labs and experiments to produce the prevention of Coronavirus. Russia was the first jockey of the horse race to produce the corona vaccine. Human testing is in the process of processing. There are also other countries who have put their skills on making the vaccine. Covaxine is one of the results of the effort of Indian scientists. 

According to a report of April 23, the human spinal cord has been shaken by an epidemic of coronary heart disease.  Worldwide, 2.52 million people have been infected with coronary artery disease, and the death toll from 1,180,000 has risen to more than 45,000.  France is facing a difficult situation like the United States.  The death toll has risen to 160,000, with 20,400 people dead.  In Spain, the death toll has risen to 2,734, with 21,917 deaths.  In Italy, on the other hand, the death toll is 28,06.  In the UK, 1,274,000 people were infected, while 14,338 died.  A total of seven people working for the UK's national health service have died of coronation.  Eight children have been infected in an orphanage in Tokyo.  Similarly, in Singapore, the number of cases of coronary heart disease has exceeded 10,000.  In India, the number of cases of coronary heart disease is 20,091, while the death toll has risen to 452.

Corona has also destroyed the backbone of Koraput Coffee of Odisha. On the basis of a survey of May 1, Small farmers are hampered by poor sales. Koraput coffee was spreading all over India.  However, the corona rock has broken its head and spine.  As a result, the future of this coffee is being dragged into uncertainty.  While the whole country is locked in for Kerona, there is no export of coffee.  Millions of rupees worth of coffee beans have failed to get the fruits of Thai labor.  Some farmers are selling at low prices, while some poor farmers are supplying coffee at half price.

In a short period of time, the global Koraput coffee has made a name for itself.  The generous climate here is great for coffee farming.  Coffee is now grown on nearly 3,000 acres in the district’s Semiliguda, Nandapur, Patangi, Dashmantapur, Koraput, Tamlaput and Laxmipur blocks.  Government and private farmers are currently engaged in coffee production.  After a year of hard work, 550 tonnes of coffee is harvested from Koraput every year.  The sale is expected to begin in February and March.  But due to the lockdown, sales have been disrupted.  The question now is how to sell 550 tonnes of coffee.  Coffee beans usually go to Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.  But they are reluctant to take coffee because the processing unit is closed.  Farmers have been hit in the head for not selling coffee.  Their backs have been shaken by years of hard work and no pay.  The big farmers are sitting next to the seeds worth Rs 15-20 lakh.  Smaller farmers are selling coffee at lower prices without waiting too long.  Some farmers are selling coffee at half price.

In the market, crude coffee was originally priced at Rs 200 per kg, but now farmers are forced to sell it at Rs 40 to Rs 100 per kg.  The broker is benefiting.  Some brokers in Chatua, Padua and Andhra Pradesh are taking goods from farmers from the villages.  Coffee traders and some big farmers are hoping for the situation to return to normal.  Farmers' concerns are growing as time goes on.  There has been a lot of spending on next year’s farming process.  Now it's time to dump her and move on.

"After a year of hard work, the coffee was harvested in March," says Sujay Pradhan, a coffee farmer.  Talks were held with the Bengaluru Processing Unit to sell it.  However, Karona broke everything.  The coffee is harvested.  Farming has begun for the next year.  "We are worried about what we will do now," he said.

Not only that, he is in the same situation as most farmers in Koraput.  A coffee processing unit was set up in Koraput last October in a joint venture between the Tribal Development Cooperative Corporation (TDCC) and the district administration.  In the name of the Koraput brand, sales started in the middle.  Expectations have doubled in a short period of time, both at home and abroad.  The TDCC hoped to collect more coffee beans.  But for Corona, everything was broken.  Gangadhar Mohanty, branch manager of TDCC, said the target was to collect 500 quintals of seeds.  However, it has been possible to collect 200 seeds for the corona cut.  The goal is to collect more when the cuts are made.  However, the death toll has risen to 2,14,105 in the world, leading to a headache for coffee farmers.

With these above negative changes corona has also brought some positive aspects too. Family got closer, male person of the family got to know the importance of a homemaker. Mother earth became quiet and calm. Pollution level has gone downwards. Nature has started healing.