Bad weather continues to haunt farmers, relief programmes yet to take off

KOLKATA | KOCHI | DELHI | PUNE: While relief programmes have been announced for farmers hit by the recent bad weather, implementation at the ground level doesn't seem to have begun yet, as is the case in Bihar.

Kishan salahkars or farm advisers from different panchayats are collecting forms from farmers to assess losses, said UK Sharma, general secretary , Vaishali Area Small Farmers' Association.

"In my village of Kamalpura in Muzaffarpur district, only 160 have got compensation out of 1,200 farmers," he said. "I have 8.5 acres of land where I had grown wheat and I was expecting to harvest 100 quintals. But untimely rains have brought down my production to 40 quintals. I am yet to receive compensation. The Bihar government has announced a compensation of Rs 13,500 per hectare. The government should put in a monitoring system so that all the affected farmers get compensation on time."

Paddy farmers in West Bengal and Kerala have also been hit. Bengal farmers say the government is yet to announce compensation.


"Both paddy and potato farmers in Bengal have suffered this year," said Ramapada Mondol, a farmer in Burdwan district. "Though the Mamata Banerjee-government said it will buy 50,000 tonne of potatoes from farmers, we have not seen the government to be very active. Had the government bought in volumes, prices of potatoes would have appreciated. However, the chief minister has written to the finance minister to waive the loans of farmers."

Meanwhile, unprecedented showers flooded paddy fields in the Palakkad district of Kerala, hitting farms. "The loss would amount to crores considering that a farmer Rs 10,000 per acre," said Muthhas Mani, general secretary of the Desiya Karshaka Samajam."This has happened at a time when around Rs 100 crore is due to farmers as compensation for paddy procured from them last year."

The farmers are still assessing losses. "We have not decided whether we should sow for the paddy crop again. The farmers are not in a position to do it," Mani said.

Rubber growers in the state are struggling to come to terms with the price plunge in the commodity for nearly two years.

The state government announced several schemes that haven't been of much help. The latest move was to set aside Rs 300 crore in the recent state budget to buy rubber at Rs 150 per kg from farmers. The current price is about Rs 124 per kg. The scheme is yet to come into force.

"The small farmers have already stopped tapping while the big es ates continue to tap as they have to pay wages to the workers who are heir staff," said a grower PM Thomas. "Majority of the growers be ong to the small category owning half to one acre and don't avail hemselves of the subsidy from Rubber Board." Earlier, the Kerala government had reached an understanding for hree months last December with yre makers for them to buy rubber at the landed cost of imports from he local market. The government even scrapped the 5% purchase tax.The tyre makers bought 48,000 onne under the scheme, hardly enough to make an impact. But even here, middlemen cornered all the benefits, farmers allege.

As for pepper farmers, the justconcluded harvest season was not a good one and the summer rains have damaged the prospects for next year's crop as well.