Wimbledon, one of the biggest tennis tournaments in the world, is incomplete without its fabled strawberries-and-cream snack for spectators.

On April 1, the All England Club cancelled this edition of the tournament because of the coronavirus pandemic, the first time since World War II, which means there will be no one to munch on strawberries at the sprawling lawns.

Normally, more than 30,000kg of strawberries are consumed during the tournament, filling the cash tills of the growers.

Thousands of miles away in north Bengal, the pandemic has cast a similar spell on people involved in thec strawberry trade as the demand for the luscious red fruit has plummeted in recent months.

“More than 300 farmers involved in strawberry cultivation in Siliguri sub-division, Kalimpong district and parts of the Dooars are staring at a bleak future,” said a state agriculture department official.

The plucking season of the fruit is from February to April-end. But the March-end Covid-induced lockdown and the slump in the economy ensured a double whammy of woes — fruits rotted in fields as the demand for the “luxury item” went down.

Several farmers in the area took to strawberry cultivation in recent years because of a sudden rise in demand for the fruit in Bihar, Assam and Bengal.

Currently, strawberry is grown over 10,000 bighas in this region. About 1,000 kg of strawberries can be plucked from a bigha.

Naresh Hera, a farmer from Malbazar in Jalpaiguri district, who had switched over to strawberry cultivation from paddy five years ago, said this was the first time he was incurring losses in strawberry. “I lost around Rs 2 lakh as there was no transport to take my produce to Siliguri. I also did not get any assurance from fruit sellers that they would buy my produce,” he added.

The lockdown and its impact on the economy have completely changed the situation for them, pointed another farmer from the Naxalbari block of Siliguri. “When times are bad, people buy essentials and think twice before buying a luxury fruit,” he said.

The Centre for Floriculture & Agri-Business Management (COFAM) of North Bengal University, has also been promoting strawberry cultivation in the region. COFAM practical demonstrator Amrendra Kumar Pandey agreed with the farmers, saying this was the first time strawberry farmers of north Bengal were facing such huge losses.

“All strawberries have been damaged in the fields as there is no market for the fruit now,” said Pandey.

A 200gm packet of strawberries usually sells for Rs 80. The same packet hardly fetches Rs 20 now, a source said.

The COFAM official said fruit sellers were showing little interest in the crop. “If we could prepare before the lockdown, we could have arranged home delivery service. But that’s no longer an option,” said Pandey.