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Journalism of Courage
July marks make-or-break season for farmers in Northern and Western India, the month to sow Kharif crop and transplant paddy. Met department assurances that the rains were on course encouraged farmers to get on with their sowing in Punjab and Haryana, while water-deficient Rajasthan waited till mid-July for the first showers to sow their crops.
The unforeseen delay in the monsoons has, of course, taken everyone by surprise, from Telengana and Rayalseema to Western Madhya Pradesh and Marathwada to Punjab and Haryana. Some crops like soyabean are yet to be sown, other crops are suffering from moisture-stress.
While the government has been proactive in issuing advisories and sending teams to stressed areas, their reports are yet to be released. The Indian Express visits Punjab, Haryana and Maharashtra to see how farmers and the government machinery are coping.
Maharashtra
Western Maharashtra is officially drought-affected. Vidarbha has received 50 per cent of its normal rainfall, but has been declared drought-prone. And farmers8217; suicides are threatening to disrupt the social fabric once again. An Opposition leader puts the count at 275 in the last three years; a local paper put it at 175. The truth could be anywhere in between, but in the 11 districts of Vidarbha alone, there have been 12 suicides in the current month.
AT RISK: Crops already sown in Vidarbha and Marathwada, not to mention Western Maharashtra. Paddy, cotton and jowar are the most vulnerable, since they all require rain during the crucial growth stage, says J S Sahariya, state agriculture secretary. With talukas such as Baramati, Indapur and Purandar perennially parched, bajra sowings, too, threaten to get totally wiped out if the rains do not reappear soon.
JUST IN CASE: A contingency plan has already been intimated to farmers, claims Sahariya. 8216;8216;Farmers have been told to take up short-duration crops such as bajra, tuar, sunflower and castor, as they can mature with less rainfall than some other crops,8217;8217; he says. The contingency plan also advises the farmers to try crops like sesame and maize. They have also recommended creation of ridges and furrows in the farms to save whatever rainwater they get.
HOLDING OUT: Despite the rising panic, state officials are willing to wait another 10 days. And anyway, they say, by August 15, the farmers begin on the rabi crop.
by Devraj Dasgupta 038; vivek deshpande
Haryana
Facing parched fields and withering crops, it seems like a rewind-2002 situation all too soon for Haryana. Forget the seven-days-early refrain of the met department, the rains skipped their usual date of June 29, and are already late by 16 days.
CROPS AFFECTED: Bajra, oilseeds, paddy, sugarcane and cotton have already been hit, and any further delay in the monsoon will only worsen the situation, say Haryana Agriculture Department officials. Only 40 per cent of Basmati transplantation has been completed and not even half the target of bajra sowing 8212; 2.5 lakh hectares, instead of the projected 6.5 lakh hectares 8212; has been achieved. Many crops in the state face stresslike situations, the first sign of crop damage.
HOPE YET: 8216;8216;If the monsoon arrives by next week, there8217;s still some hope. Otherwise the situation will become really grim,8217;8217; says Y S Tomar, senior extension specialist at Haryana Agriculture University.
Rajiv Arora, director of Agriculture, Haryana, is also not ready to admit that the state faces a drought-like situation. 8216;8216;We have hopes of rains yet. Even the Met department says so,8217;8217; he says, if unconvincingly. 8216;8216;There is also a contingency plan if the rains do fail; it will be put into effect by next week if the rains don8217;t arrive.8217;8217;
SALT IN THE WOUND: Power continues to be in acutely short supply, making for a scenario where farmers fall back on diesel to run irrigation pumps. 8216;8216;We can only hope for the best while being prepared for the worst,8217;8217; says Dr V P Ahlawat, director, Horticulture, Haryana.
by Rajendra Khatry
Punjab
Every expert warned Punjab farmers to diversify from paddy and wheat. The delayed monsoon drives home the reason why in the cruellest way possible.
FAILED FORECAST: In keeping with the predictions of an early monsoon by meteorologists, enthusiastically seconded by Punjab Agricultural University experts, farmers completed paddy transplant operations by the end of June. But July 1 came and went, followed by July 15. And the state is still waiting for something more lusty than isolated showers.
CASE STUDY: The predicament of Kuldip Singh, a farmer in Sahouli village, is typical of the farming community. 8216;8216;I completed sowing by June-end. Because they predicted a good monsoon, I brought extra land under paddy. Now there is no power to irrigate my fields, I have to depend on diesel generators,8217;8217; he says. 8216;8216;Eh PAU-walene marva dita These university people have destroyed us.8217;8217;
DIVERSIFICATION DOLDRUMS: Had the state heeded diversification guru S S Johl, 100,000 hectares of land would have shifted from rice-wheat this year. Instead, 23,00,000 hectares are already under water-intensive non-Basmati variety of rice. Another 200,000 hectares are earmarked for Basmati.
WIRES CROSSED: 8216;8216;We can8217;t bring in the rains,8217;8217; says Ajmer Singh, state director for Agriculture. 8216;8216;We always advise farmers to wait for the rains, especially for paddy, but no one listens to us.8217;8217; And Dr Lal Singh Brar, HoD of Agronomy, PAU, adds, 8216;8216;Crops in Punjab are perfectly okay. I have not got any reports of stressed crops.8221;
by Amrita Chaudhary
