Rising labour costs force farmers to do own work

For the first time in a decade,the acute shortage of migrant labourers is forcing Punjab farmers to sow paddy crops on their own. Farmers,who,off late were heavily reliant on migrant labourers for the task,are forced to shed their inhibitions and jump into the fields to plant rice saplings in the border districts of Amritsar,Gurdaspur and Tarn Taran. With the shortage of workers leading to a steep hike in labour costs,even women and children are on the fields.

The farmers say the border areas are worst affected as the available migrant labour is exhausted in the hinterlands. “The labour shortage is all over but we,the border area farmers,are worst affected. The labour cost to sow paddy in one acre was Rs. 1200 last year ,and it has risen to Rs.2000 to Rs 2200. But here to sow paddy at lands across the barbed fence on the Indo-Pak border,labourers are demanding Rs 2500,” said Sukhjinder Singh,a farmer atDaoke village. At village Thakarpura in Tarn Taran,farmer Dilbagh,a retired army man has been waiting for farmhands for 20 days and now plans to sow paddy on his own. His teenaged son,Bagicha Singh finds farm work difficult but the family has no other option. “ Earlier we used to get cheap and easy labour from UP and Bihar,but lately there are very few of them,” he said.

Better employment opportunities in Bihar and UP and the successful implementation of the Centre’s National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) has ensured people get proper work and has stopped them from rushing to Punjab,says Agriculture Development Officer,Gurdeep Singh. Singh says the last two years have been the worst.

Partap Singh at village Jaito Sarja says labour costs are highest during the paddy season. “Punjab’s farming is largely dependent on migrant labour. But their number is on the decrease. The local labour is not ready to do the tedious task of paddy sowing,which is done standing in the hot sun in the watered fields,” he says.