Selling livestock for harvest
From Chander Parkash
Tribune News Service

MUKTSAR, Oct 4 — Farmers of the Malwa region have started selling their jewellery and livestock to raise the money required for harvesting the submerged paddy crop and deal with the economic crisis.

The recent heavy rain which flooded the fields has also made the harvesting of paddy more expensive. The paddy growers are now spending Rs 1500 to Rs 2000 for harvesting an acre of paddy as compared to Rs 300 during normal circumstances by using the harvester combine. Most of the farmers are harvesting the paddy manually to extract maximum crop and thus incurring more expenditure.

To raise the money required for such eventualities the farmers of the Malwa region comprising Bathinda, Mansa, Sangrur, Faridkot, Moga, Ferozepore and this district have also started selling their tractors and other valuables.

According to Agriculture Department sources, the farmers are spending more money on the harvesting of paddy than they had spent on its sowing and transplantation.

The farmers are finding difficulty in getting more loans from their commission agents.

Some of the agents have started charging high rates of interest.

Nek Singh, a farmer, said he had no alternative but to sell his four buffaloes and 13 tolas of gold to raise about Rs 90,000 to get his eldest daughter married.

Dhana Singh, another farmer, said due to the repeated failure of his cotton crop, he had already sold his tractor last year to generate funds for sowing a new crop.

Most of the small and marginal farmers of the Malout and Gidderbaha areas of this district have turned into daily wagers as their lands have been rendered unfit for agriculture due to severe water-logging. Such farmers are now working as labourers in nearby towns.

A number of cotton-growers have started ploughing their crop after the renewed attack of American bollworm and pests.

In the Bangi, Doda, Madhir, Phuli, Gurusar Butter Bakooha, Kot Bhai, Pauri and Sangat areas, have dug out the cotton crop. In the Malwa region, the farmers have suffered a loss of more than crores of rupees due to the damage caused by the American bollworm.

Sukhbir Singh, said farmers were now pinning their hopes on the state government and expecting compensation for the loss.