Sowing and bank credit on hold

Farmers face a year without a steady source of income should the rains fail

NAGPUR:  Ramdas Vaidya, 60, a farmer in Amravati is worried. The seven acres he owns in the village of Sheoni Rasulapur wear a barren look. The first two sowings have not germinated.

First, he missed the loan waiver because he didn’t qualify, now he may well  miss the Kharif crop. “I can’t cultivate anything except sunflower or safflower unless it rains heavily.” Vaidya says.

Vaidya is one of many dry-land farmers in Vidarbha who may face a whole year without any income if the rains don’t come fast. Purushottam Bansode, 45, says,” Every farmer has suffered a minimum loss of Rs 2,000 an acre. If you factor in price rise, we are doomed.”

Even if rains now, farmers have no money to buy seeds and fertiliser again since the banks haven’t begun disbursement of credit. “We’ve already exhausted our savings,” says Vaidya. Those who own livestock have to arrange for fodder and water.

Desperation and anger are building up in the villages of the district. “We are back to where we were four years ago,” say the villagers of Dorli, Wardha.

The black dry fields across Vidarbha haven’t received any rains in the last 20 days. An area of over 23 lakh hectares out of 33 lakh hectares has seen one or two sowings already. Agriculture officials say almost 60 per cent of sowings have come a cropper.  The entire kharif crop is in danger even as time runs out for soyabean, cotton and paddy.

Divisional joint director (agriculture), Amravati PN Pokale says the division has received less than 50 per cent of required rain. In Nagpur, his counterpart K J Nandeshwar says that paddy cultivation is complete on 12,000 hectares as against an area of 7.5 lakh hectares.

Agriculture officials say yields could fall by 30 per cent even if it were to rain soon. And when farmers are in need for credit. banks cannot disburse funds across the 11 districts as they have little liquidity. “We have 970 members but we have given loans to only four who are regular payers,” says KC Thakre, deputy manager of the Yavatmal district central cooperative bank at Mohoda. This bank annually disburses loans worth Rs1.5 crore. About 350 of its members have got a total waiver of a little over Rs50 lakh (an average of Rs14,500), while those who are due for a rebate of 25 per cent or Rs20,000 (whichever is more) in one time settlement scheme cannot hope to pay 75 per cent of their dues in three installments to qualify. “If it doesn’t rain, where do we get the money? asks Ganesh Shelke. Farmers says a loan waiver won’t help. “We need good prices, assured irrigation facilities and other avenues of income to help us in emergencies,” he says.
h_jaideep@dnaindia.net