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After rain of woes, wait for govt respite
First, a drought that lasted for more than six months, then floods in August, followed by unseasonal rain coinciding with the harvesting season in October and November
First, a drought that lasted for more than six months, then floods in August, followed by unseasonal rain coinciding with the harvesting season in October and November — woes of farmers in Sangli do not seem to end. From grapes to rice, crops spread over 29.8 lakh hectare (ha) area, worth crores, have been destroyed by these weather-related catastrophes in the western Maharashtra district.
This, coupled with the fact that the administration has not received compensation, has left Sangli farmers, who are wealthier than their counterparts in other parts of the states, trapped in a debt cycle.
Take for example, Dhanpal Pujari, a 42-year-old farmer, who has two seven-acre plots in Miraj Taluka, Sangli district. Pujari said the back-to-back calamities left them with no time to breathe. It started with a drought in November 2018, which prolonged till July owing to a delayed monsoon. According to the district agricultural department, the delayed monsoon destroyed kharif crops on nearly 1.25 lakh ha till June-July. When farmers managed to sow their crops, floods in August damaged crops across 65,000 ha. The unseasonal rainfall in October and November followed, destroying standing crops across 1.08 lakh ha of the 3.38 lakh ha area under cultivation. Sangli received 719.4mm rain until November 18, the highest in the state. “Unseasonal rain in October hit the flowering stage of my grape orchard. Earlier in August, flood damaged my cane plantation. How do we repay the bank loans raised for sowing?” said Pujari. The farmer, who has a grape plantation on three acres of land and cane plantation on two acres of land, is already in a debt of ₹8 lakh. He said that although he was promised compensation from the crop insurance scheme, he is yet to get any money. His next worry: Where will he get the money for sowing rabi crops?
Another farmer, Dadaso Shinde, 40, from Soni, in Sangli, who lost his two-acre grape orchard to the October-November downpour, said it is too late to sow rabi crops. “In June-July, maize and green vegetables dried up. Owing to the pending loan, the bank is not ready to give further loans. We have no option but to approach private lenders,” said Shinde, adding late sowing would increase pest infections. This means he has totally lost out on a whole agricultural year. “The Governor declared compensation of ₹18,000 for each hectare for horticulture farmers. This is negligible,” said the farmer, who invested ₹2.5 lakh on every acre of grape orchards.
Pujari and Shinde’s plight is mirrored by thousands of farmers in Sangli, who are awaiting compensation. Deepak Mhaiskar, Pune divisional commissioner, confirmed they are awaiting compensation from the state for flood-hit victims of Sangli and Satara. “We’ve already sent a report to the state with a list of insured and non-insured farmers. We are constantly in touch with the officials,” he said. BB Mastoli, district superintendent of agriculture, Sangli, admitted that weather-related catastrophes completely ruined the agricultural sector in Sangli. Apart from cash crops, 55,000 acres of grapes were damaged and 26,000 acres of Indrayani rice, for which the Pune region is famous, were also hit. Meanwhile, the state has submitted a report to the Centre on the financial losses of farmers.
Local farmers alleged the state has failed to handle the situation in western Maharashtra, as a result of which the Nationalist Congress Party regained its lost ground in the Assembly polls. This is a threat for the Bharatiya Janata Party, which had gained popularity in the sugar belt in the past five years.
