Just a splash of rain, and look how life changes

You can also hear the roar in the interiors of Saurashtra where the monsoon has finally come calling after four, dry years. The gloom in Gujarat’s groundnut and cotton bowl is gone, replaced with images of bright, happy faces.

The recent picture of a Surendranagar village with scores crowding around a well was Saurashtra’s story in nutshell. But that’s over. With the region receiving rainfall up to 11 inches, farmers have begun returning to their land from relief sites. The Gujarat government has already declared a rain policy, winding up relief sites in 116 talukas spread over 10 districts. Check dams are full and reservoirs are beginning to look healthy. ‘‘I no longer go to the relief site. I have started sowing groundnut in my two bigha. It looks as if this will be a good season,’’ says Jasabhai Dana, a farmer from Kalavad. He should know: his groundnut production has been barely 30 per cent in the last four-five seasons.

Bharatiya Kisan Sangh president Prafulbhai Senjalia says ‘‘mahol saro chhe’’ as he prepares to return to his field. ‘‘The crop will hold even if it does not rain for a month.’’ He remembers how farmers were afraid to take up sowing around this time last year.

‘‘Timely rains and timely sowing increase yield between 15 and 20 per cent. Although the final yield will depend on subsequent rains, the beginning is very good,’’ says Gujarat Agriculture University’s associate director of research Dr B S Jadon. Groundnut and cotton give a bumper yield in such conditions.

If the farmers are celebrating, so are most towns in Gujarat. ‘‘Daily water supply’s like a dream. For the first time, we are not waiting for tankers in June,’’ says Sushila Parekh, a Rajkot housewife.

And also for the first time in June, many parts of Saurashtra are not seeing sale of water. ‘‘We have spent Rs 15,000 in the last three-four years simply buying water. I hope I don’t have to budget money for water anymore,’’ says Rajkot’s Kantaben Vadodaria.

On a farm near Adgaon in Nashik district of Maharashtra, brothers Shantaram and Prakash Deshmukh are preparing their fields. ‘‘This year we want to switch to groundnuts. Tomato cultivation is expensive and the risk is high. We burnt our fingers last year,’’ says Shantaram. But it’s not exactly raining good news in Andhra Pradesh yet. Pre-monsoon showers raised hopes among farmers but they’re worried that the rain god has begun playing truant.

In anticipation of a good monsoon, Andhra Pradesh projected an ambitious kharif and rabi plan, fixing a target of 165 lakh tonnes this year. Agriculture department officials say sowing has not yet started in many parts though it can be seen in areas with borewells.

In Karnataka too, there are concerns about the monsoon behaviour. Farmers usually start sowing May-end. By now sowing should have been completed in 12 lakh hectares. But current estimates say only 2 lakh hectares match the sowing description.

(with reports from Panaji, Nashik, Rajkot, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Bangalore)