Impact of COVID-19 on cash crops: the case of black pepper in Kerala

ABSTRACT

The nationwide lockdown which has been in force from 24th March 2020 due to COVID-19 pandemic had a severe economic impact on agriculture sector. This has been in spite of the exemptions given to the sector after two weeks of lockdown. The agriculture has been seen by many in the post-COVID scenario as the bright spot in the economy. But, the pepper crop is uniquely located in the sense that its consumption is largely driven by food processing industries which had been affected by the pandemic. Not only that the two back-to-back floods in 2018 and 2019 had severely affected the pepper production in Idukki district of Kerala which accounts for the largest production share. The district even faced a spate of farmer suicides in the recent times. This paper is an exploration into the various impacts of the present pandemic on the pepper economy of Kerala. It also tries to come up with some policy recommendations to revive the pepper production in the post-COVID economic structure.