But the steep rise in raw material costs this year has made this unaffordable for the 65-year-old farmer from Amravati’s Ravala village.
NAGPUR: Vasant Futane’s immediate priority is to barbwire his farm to protect the crop from wild animals and thugs. But the steep rise in raw material costs this year has made this unaffordable for the 65-year-old farmer from Amravati’s Ravala village.
“The costs have risen two-fold in the past three months. I’ll suffer crop losses on two counts; one, due to spiralling production costs, and two, due to a drop in income. It will hit our domestic consumption patterns in a major way,” Futane said.
Many farmers from his area, he says, are stuck. Inflation woes have begun to hit rural population in more ways than one. First, the cost of agriculture inputs - from seeds, fertilisers, and pesticides to labour - has gone up by at least 30%. Added to it is the rise in the prices of food and essential commodities, transportation, education, and health services. This, at a time when the fresh credit is hard to come by and farm income is dropping.
Many farmers who hire a tractor to till their land are paying twice the rent this year than they did last year. “One acre of land tilling cost Rs250 last year; this year it stands at Rs500,” said Futane. Those who have generator sets are sorry they bought them. “Diesel prices have made running them unaffordable.” What is even more ironic is that they are paying Rs200 a day to hire a pair of bullocks to till their land, even as the human wages remain between Rs30 and Rs75 a day.
This has already begun to affect the food intake of farmers, particularly the tribal, said Kishor Tiwari of the Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti. The farmers, he said, depend on open markets for domestic needs since they grow cash crops like cotton and soybean. With transport prices going up, food and fuel are becoming unaffordable, Tiwari added.
In Wasri village of Ghatanji tehsil in Yavatmal, farmers could not even buy kerosene for their domestic needs. Last week, Kannu Rathod, a marginal farmer, committed suicide when he could not procure a loan from formal or private sources. Even those farmers that were better-off are feeling the pinch. “Everything but our income is going up,” said Padmakar Argude, 40, one of the big farmers of Lonsavali village, 30 km off Wardha.
Argude’s worries are compounded by a long gap in rains. If seeds do not germinate, he would have to buy them again. By that time, seed prices would have shot by over 30%. “The centre is raising its employees’ salaries through the sixth pay commission, but is refusing to hike support prices of commodities for farmers. Is farming a crime?” said farm leader Vijay Jawandhia.
Lost dreams: Even education has become unaffordable for farmers. Saraswati Amberwar, 48, from Yavatmal said her daughter passed HSC with 70% marks. “She needs Rs36,000 to
get admission in a private college for a diploma in education; how will
I arrange so much money?” Manjusha, her youngest daughter, is a
diligent student, but rising costs mean higher education could be a distant dream for her.
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