Rising from the edge

A decade later, I was to travel with a friend through the northwestern districts of Karnataka and the adjoining areas of Andhra. The world was beginning to change. Groundnut, tobacco and sunflower were bringing in profits. Paddy was becoming difficult to sustain because of the two-rupee rice scheme. Village level institutions in education and health also seemed to function here as compared to the north and the east. Ten years later I was to go again.

This time on the slow coach from Hampi to Gulbarga and then on to Hyderabad. This was now the mid-nineties and I remember telling the farmer prime minister that there were no new sources of growth in the villages, no new crops and no new technologies. That is always bad news.

Now it is Karakememodi in the Moinabad area, not very far from Hyderabad. It has the red laterite soils of the Deccan and low and erratic rainfall. Water is a severe problem, but prosperity is taken for granted. The village has paved roads and nice public buildings. The money is made, the Reddys tell me in their Telugu loaded with Urdu, from growing and selling tarkari vegetables. They work for the market of the town.

Alur Mallaya grows cotton. This is basically a rainfed area but tubewells supplement the water supply. He plants a seed called 8216;Banni8217;. I wonder if it was originally from Kutch. 8216;Banni8217; gives him around nine quintals a hectare of medium staple length. He has five pickings and invests heavily in pesticides. He doesn8217;t know why the price varies by over five hundred rupees across seasons. The trader who buys from him tells him that imports are cheaper. Since he is going to plant soon, I ask him if he knows the prices farmers in Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Punjab and also in the countries from where we import. He is puzzled. The Reddys intervene wanting the government to buy cotton. I tell them governments are broke and they had better worry about the business aspects of their activities.

Those who have plenty of water, or plenty of rains, will grow paddy. It is no longer a major crop. The Reddys complain about the government8217;s subsidised rice distribution scheme. They have not heard of Siddiqui and his hybrid rice, although he is from their region I tell them. But they are getting high yields. Technology has definitely reached the favoured areas in dry regions. They talk of paddy yields above 40 quintals a hectare in a matter of fact manner. The world is changing.

The women in the community have started a self help financing group. Forget about the Grameen Bank. These women have money, so it goes to everybody in lots of Rs 2,500. This money is put to use and it will come back. Since the women have the time, they invest in milch animals and make money. After all, there are only 400 dairy animals in a village with over 1,500 families.

Karakamemodi is doing reasonably well, although it complains it has no water, that the prices are bad, and there is no help forthcoming for organising new ventures.

As I get up to leave, I wonder if they will keep on complaining or organise for the next round of development.