Coronavirus upends global food supply chains in latest economic shock

SATARA, INDIA/SINGAPORE/LONDON - In the fertile Satara district in western India, farmers are putting their cattle on an unorthodox diet: Some feed iceberg lettuce to buffalo. Others feed strawberries to cows.

In Florida, a lack of Mexican migrant laborers means watermelon and blueberry growers face the prospect of rotting crops. Similar shortages of workers in Europe mean vegetable farms are missing the window to plant. He can't even give his strawberries away: With stay-home orders in place, few villagers ventured out from their homes when he offered them the berries for free, he said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi imposed a 21-day lockdown with just a few hours notice on March 25, leaving many of its 120 million migrant labourers struggling to get home and with no money for rent, food or transport. Castelino figured the sharp decline meant the food had simply gone to waste:"With perishable food, once it's gone, it's gone," he said.

In France, Agriculture Minister Didier Guillaume has issued a rallying cry to what he called France's"shadow army" of newly laid off workers to replace the usual crews of migrant workers on the farms. LAND, SEA & AIR In addition to the trucking problems, a sharp decline in air traffic has cut deeply into capacity to move fresh produce long distances.

Port congestion is slowing shipments of pork and beef to destinations such as China because workers have been told to stay at home. That is exacerbating the shortage of protein supplies in China, where an outbreak of African swine fever has taken a quarter of the world's pigs off the market in the past year and a half.

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