Troubles come in threes for farmers

Geetanjali Gayatri

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 3

The fast-approaching harvesting season is turning out to be a nightmare for farmers and the state government’s announcement to begin mustard and wheat procurement from April 15 and April 20, respectively, has added to their troubles.

Farmers are desperately looking for farmhands to harvest the crop, worried about storing the grain, troubled by the increasing cost of holding on to the produce and the subsequent chaos that awaits them when the mandis are finally opened.

“The procurement date announced by the government is far away. Farmers will be stressed out and exhausted way before that. The exodus of labourers from UP and Bihar is the most immediate problem. Harvesting will begin in a week and the government expects that my wife and I can handle the entire crop cutting by ourselves,” says Krishan of Kirmara village in Hisar, adding that they managed a few farmhands but the police sent them packing.

“The government expects us to delay harvesting, store our grain till the mandis open and then give us a bonus of Rs 50. The farmer will be finished by the end of this harvesting season,” he says. He has planted wheat in 6.5 acres and mustard in 3.5 acres and says he requires at least 15 labourers for a week for the harvesting.

With his wheat crop spread over 9 acres of which five acres is on contract, Vir Bhan Dhull of Jind’s Ikkas village says the farmers’ work and costs will be doubled on account of closed mandis. “We would take the grain from the farms to the mandis, sell it and be over with it. Under the new directions, we will harvest it, bring it home and take it to the mandis when these open. This means we will pay double labour. Add to that the increased cost of hiring farm hands. Against Rs 400, the few hands available are asking for Rs 700,” Dhull says.

Storage of grain is also weighing heavy on farmers minds. With wheat growing over 32 acres, Amarjit Singh of Katlari village in Kurukshetra, does not know where to keep the grain till it can be taken to the mandis. “We will have to rely on a harvester to cut the crop. If the government gives us bags to store the grain, we might be able to manage. If not, we will be forced to explore options since saving the produce is our compulsion. The government has conveniently shifted the onus on to us and we have nowhere to go,” he laments, adding that the scene in the mandis, when these open, will be chaotic.

Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Gurman Singh said they had written to the state government to bail out the farmer. “We suggested arhtiyas lift the produce from fields and the government give Rs 10,000 to the farmers to manage harvesting and storage and deduct this from the final payment among others. We are yet to hear from the government,” he said. He also shared his apprehensions over mismanagement likely when all farmers reach the mandis together to sell their produce. “This will be the worst crop season for the farmer as hewill pay more than he will get,” he said.

Combines’ unavailability, rains hit harvesting

• PK Das, Additional Chief Secretary, Food and Supplies, said that due to the lockdown, combine harvesters had not reached the state as scheduled.
• “Though some combine harvesters are available, others come from neighbouring Punjab, which have been delayed due to the lockdown. Consequently, harvesting has been delayed and farmers have been intimated about the dates for procurement. Also, the recent rains have delayed ripening of the grain. We have announced the dates keeping this in mind. The logistics of staggering procurement and transportation are being worked out looking at arrivals in past seasons,” Das said.

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