Kolkata: Crab export from West Bengal to China came to a halt following the outbreak of novel coronavirus ( nCoV), adversely impacting the livelihood of thousands of small farmers. The state government on Friday said it would look into the plight of the affected farmers.
The dragon economy is a major importer of crabs and tons of crab stock is lying idle in January and February when the demand is high in China due to the Lunar New Year festive season there.
u201c Exports to China is our lifeline.
Now that it has stopped, we need help,u201d East Midnapore Crab Farmersu2019 Welfare Association officials said. The coronavirus outbreak in China has made an adverse impact on the local economy of East Midnapore district where the majority of crab farmers of the state are based.
Livelihood of around 5,000 crab farmers and more than 10,000 fishermen have been affected by the disease, the officials said. They have submitted a memorandum at the office of the district fisheries department mentioning that their income has dropped by over 50 per cent in the past month. State Fisheries Minister Chandra Nath Sinha said he would do the needful to bail out the small farmers after reviewing the situation early next week. Crab export from Odisha to other countries was also affected due to due nCoV scare, they said. Agencies Livelihood of around 5,000 crab farmers and more than 10,000 fishermen have been affected after exports to China were suspended owing to nCoV outbreak Small farmers in Bengal take a hit due to nCoV outbreak
