The impact of COVID-19 has been seen everywhere in the world. It is an extremely aggressive strain of the H1N1 virus. It mainly affects humans and has killed more people in the past months than any other outbreak of its kind in history. What is this strain? How does it affect the agriculture sector? And what are our next steps to contain it? In this article we will try to look into these factors and explain them one by one.
What is COVID-19?
COVID-19 is an extremely aggressive strain of the H1N1 virus. Unfortunately, this particular strain has mutated, and now carries some of these deadlier traits making it even more dangerous for humans. Global health officials are still working out how to address COVID-19, even though there is a vaccine available now. But still at this time we’re all at risk until we can get a handle on it.
The Impact on Agriculture
There are many things that make COVID-19 extremely difficult for agriculture sector. First, it is an aggressive virus that can affect humans. Second, it carries some of the same traits that make the seasonal flu so deadly.
The impact of COVID-19 on agriculture has been the most notable to date. It has created high fear and panic in the agriculture workforce. These workers are supposed to have close contact with livestock or contaminated environments like barns or animal pens where they work.
COVID-19 has also been found in pigs and minks in China and Europe, which raises concerns about these animals becoming carriers for new strains of the virus just as mosquitoes are for malaria and other tropical diseases.
This pandemic has shaken down the world economy. More and more people are becoming jobless as a result of the lockdown. The supply chain remained very disturbed due to the lock down and other restraints. It has an impact on commodity prices which are fluctuating. The graph of inflation is rapidly increasing which creates a panic among the labor class.
The ongoing pandemic has badly disturbed the agriculture sector. Agriculture sector also depends upon the supply of material same as other industries. Lack of availability of seed, fertilizers and pesticides has affected the production.
Moreover, due to lockdown, the connection between farm and market could not harmonize resulting in high commodity prices. On the other hand, farm workers hugely depend upon their production. As production is not properly channelized, they are losing their jobs as a result.
Impacts on livestock sector
The traces of virus in animals has threatened the livestock sector as well. In Denmark, the deadly virus was traced out in the mink farms. It has created a lot of panic in the agriculture sectors. The authorities intervened and ordered to kill all minks and shut down the farms immediately. As a result a lot of farm workers went unemployed.
There is also news about the virus traced in animals as well but scientists are still working over that. Livestock sector is suffering due to this virus as well. On one side production is decreasing and on the other hand prices of dairy products are increasing rapidly.
Poultry sector and pandemic
Poultry industry is another important segment of the market economy. The supply of poultry feed and medicines has disturbed which has a direct impact over the production. Extra precautions are needed for the poultry industry as it is more prone to viruses.
A big part of the agriculture segment is associated with the poultry industry. If something happens, there is a risk of huge loss for the economy. A lot of farm workers are associated with this sector. The authorities should focus more on this industry to keep the farm workers on their jobs.
What are the next steps to contain this virus?
Global health officials are still working out how to address COVID-19 more effectively. The only way to fight the spread of the virus is with education on how to prevent contraction. In the meantime, we can all do our part to stay safe from COVID-19. In order to reduce your risk of contracting this fatal virus, you should:
1) Stay away from large crowds and avoid touching your nose or eyes if you’re around someone who has a cough or flu symptoms.
2) Get a vaccination if it’s available in your area. And make sure that anyone around you is vaccinated as well.
3) Wash your hands often with soap and water or an alcohol-based hand sanitizer if soap and water aren’t available.
4) Always try to cover your mouth and nose while you cough or sneeze.
5) Avoid touching your eyes, nose, or mouth as much as possible to reduce the chance of getting infected by touching a surface that may be contaminated with virus particles.
6) If you feel at all sick, report it immediately to your doctor so they can monitor your illness and provide necessary treatment if necessary.
Conclusion
COVID-19 has had devastating effects on the agriculture and economy around the world. Due to lockdown in many countries, almost all industries suffered a lot. The agricultural industry is one of those which absorbed more panic than others. Millions of farm labor working in the agriculture sector remained jobless. Agriculture production slowed down due to the less mobility and unavailability of resources in the agriculture sector.
Livestock is considered a major part of the agricultural economy. This pandemic has affected this segment too. Farm labor could not perform well due to the fear of infection. In 2020, the infectious virus was traced in the mink farm in Denmark. Due to which the government ordered to kill all the minks. Since mink farming is a major agriculture activity in Denmark, it lasted a devastating impact on the agriculture sector. The ban on mink farms resulted in thousands of people being unemployed which created chaos in the society.
Even at the end of 2021, a new variant of the COVID-19 has emerged and the health experts are predicting another wave of this infectious virus. The world is preparing to face another challenge in the shape of another deadly variant, Omicron. We hope that the year 2022 will be the end of COVID-19 and bring new hope for the agriculture sector.