Farmers visit railway station to woo workers as paddy sowing begins

Paddy sowing period began in Ludhiana from Monday onwards as per the zone-wise schedule of the state government. For optimising groundwater usage and supporting sustainable farming, the state was divided into three zones for specific sowing dates.

Today was the first day and the sowing is expected to pick up pace in coming days and farmers from nearby villages have started visiting the city railway station to woo workers for paddy sowing. With children of farmers opting for career outside agriculture and local labourers not interested in doing farm work, farmers have to largely depend upon migrant workers.

Migrants left state during Op Sindoor

A large number of migrant workers left the state during the recent Operation Sindoor, which has led to a shortage of agricultural labour and it, in turn, can impact the paddy sowing.

When the workers return home, they generally come back after spending 1-1.5 months with their family. They are now returning slowly. According to farmers, arriving late is also one of the tactics adopted by the labourers to increase their wages. Farmers are in a hurry to sow the crop and are ready to give any price.

Paramjeet Singh from a village near Samrala said last year the labour charge was between Rs 3,200-Rs 3,500 per acre but this time, the workers were asking for Rs 4,000-Rs 4,200 per acre. Most of the workers have returned home after Pahalgham attack and were now making way back slowly, he said.

Davinder Singh from Sahnewal reached the railway station early morning and managed to struck a deal of Rs 4,000 per acre, food and place to stay with labourers. “I have a fixed group of workers every year, who call me before coming but this year they are not coming due to some reason. I thought the best option to hire some labourers is from the railway station itself and I was lucky enough to meet a group of them. As the days will pass, wages will increase,” he said.

Gurbir Singh, a farmer from Lalton Khurd village, said earlier the entire family used to work together in the sowing process but the decline in the joint family system had impacted the farming community, leading to greater reliance on hired labour. “Children are adopting career other than agriculture and in case a family decides to sow the paddy by themselves, it will take them a month to do so. As a result, the dependence on hired labour is increasing,” he said.

But why local/village workers are also drifting away from doing agriculture jobs is another story.

“Village people have minimum needs, workers in villages are getting free flour, dal under the scheme and now, electricity is also free. They do not feel the need to do strenuous work such as sowing in extreme heat conditions and instead do meagre jobs to make their living. In traditional farming communities, farmers used to provide a small share of their produce to workers as a compensation of their services, which ensured food security for workers’ families and also fostered a sense of support and trust between them. Now, the farmers are entirely dependent upon the migrant workers for their agricultural work, from sowing to harvesting.