There are questions about how COVID-19 will affect labor availability, consumer demand for produce, trade deals, and supply chains for crop inputs, potentially causing some price inflation.
The COVID-19 outbreak and subsequent actions taken to mitigate the pandemic have already had a significant effect on the world marketplace. Job and production losses and changes in purchasing habits have put a strain on agriculture productivity and the economy at large. https://today.ttu.edu/posts/2020/03/Stories/COVID-Hudson
Agriculture, especially our food supply chain is quite resilient. It is a complex web of interrelated industries that brings us food and fiber. But all systems have weaknesses we should understand. In this case, the non-food-related products such as cotton will likely be hard hit because of the decline in textile and clothing industry. The first is labor, farm labor, labor in processing facilities, trucking and retailing. When we face potential losses in terms of mass reductions in labor availability due to illness, we can expect disruptions. Further, closing borders in response to this pandemic exacerbates this problem.
Second, changes in food demand will strain the system. That is, significant amount of food was consumed away from home, especially in fast growing economies. And while food supplies are ample, they are in the wrong channel, and shifting those supplies to the grocery channel will not happen overnight. Third, the commodity markets currently are a wreck. Current prices on futures exchanges are insufficient to cover the costs of production for farmers, making it hard to gain financing to plant crops. That lack of profitability can be overcome in the short run through government programs but will damage the long-term viability of farms if markets do not return to some sense of normalcy.
The editors of CropLife and Agribusiness Global are working to distill the rapidly changing circumstances affecting agriculture businesses throughout the value chain with these periodic updates and longer-form stories about how to manage business operations during socioeconomic disruptions.
Possible Solutions
Automation
Automation will be a priority for business in all sectors. As office workers have managed to flip to working from home, the factories and fields will have to have more infrastructure and technological advancement to insulate them from labour turbulence. Agriculture drone makers are having their peak in terms of sales as they play a pivotal role especially at this point in time.
Conservation Agriculture
Now more than ever, is the need to practice conservation agriculture which strikes a balance between environmental sustainability and economic profitability. That is, there won’t be any need to purchase expensive fertilizers as farmers will resort to farm manure. Chilli can be ground fight against pests and flour can be used to clot aphids and suffocate them. There are many such homemade strategies that I cannot exhaust here.
Smart Agriculture
Specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time bound agriculture has become even more paramount than it has been recommended. With the world changing, it is high time for the farmer to better plant small but efficiently, in order to reduce unnecessary expenditure and earn more from less. Planning before execution is now important. I strongly advice farmers to grow products that have an already established market so that they won’t suffer post-harvest losses. Either way, I would also advice farmers to choose products and or varieties that have a long shelf life so as to circumvent and or delay the agony of post-harvest losses.
SuperFoods
Corona virus is said to affect weak immunities, therefore, there is an opportunity in the midst of the pandemic. A wise farmer has to research on immune boosting foods and have a strong marketing base. Here is a list of some immune boosting food crops:
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