“There is no wateror fodder this year, and it has become tough to manage my three cows,” says Nagamma, a dairy farmer at Maradevanahalli village in Maddur taluk. The cows and her one-acre farm are her only sources of livelihood. “The milk yields have reduced: these days I get only about 5-6 litres, against 10-12 litres earlier,” she adds.

The Maradevanahalli village panchayat provides about 200 litres of water per family, twice a week. But it is difficult to manage with that, and Nagamma has to turn to private well owners in the village.

Dairying is a major revenue stream for small and medium-sized farmers in Maddur and Mandya region. But as outputs shrink, farmers are struggling: the cost of dry fodder has shot up to ₹20,000-30,000 a truckload, against ₹5,000 in normal times. Maradevanahalli villagers are forced to fetch it from 70-80 km away.

Declining water table Even big farmers like Gururaju are affected. “The water table has declined, and we need to drill wells to at least 1,200-1,300 feet,” he says. He has sunk seven borewells on his 25-acre farm, but only one of them yields water. “I have to give the second crop a miss,” he laments.

Ragi, coconut and silkworm rearing (sericulture) are the main crops in areas around Maradevanahalli, where farmers practice mainly dryland farming. “This is year, there is no ragi and no rearing of silkworms,” says Shivaraju, another farmer. The village tank is being de-silted under the MNREGA rural employment scheme, and most of the villagers are engaged in the operations. As Karnataka reels under the impact of its fourth consecutive drought, the production of key crops such as paddy, sugarcane and even the staple ragi has taken a hit, affecting the output and resulting in a price spiral.

“Even sugarcane leaves, which are normally trashed as waste, has found value this year” says Kurbur Shantakumar, President of the Karnataka Sugarcane Growers Association.

Desperate farmers have taken to feeding their cattle with sugarcane leaves. But even the sugarcane crop has shrunk by about 50-60 per cent in South Karnataka. Apart from the lack of adequate rains, the receding water table in the region has aggravated the farmers’ woes. About 40-50 per cent of the estimated 25 lakh wells in the State are dry.

Wilting coconut plantations, large tracts of farmlands left fallow for lack of water are a common sight across the old Mysuru region, which ironically has a well-developed irrigation network. There are sporadic small patches of sugarcane, but farmers are struggling to save those farms.

Lack of power Farmers additionally have to deal with the lack of electricity. Though more villages are coming under the Nirantara Jyothi scheme, where single-phase electricity is being provided, farmers are unable to operate pumpsets, which require more power. The three-phase power supply is very erratic.

K Boriah, Secretary of the Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha, says, “We are witnessing such a severe drought for the first time in the region. Farmers have been forced to leave their lands fallow in this well-irrigated region.”

The severe water deficit has further aggravated the agrarian distress in Mandya, which witnessed a spate of farm suicides in recent years.

“We have to be content with a single crop this year,” said Boregowda, a farmer at Kibbanahalli. Farming is no longer viable even in the irrigated areas, he adds. Cane output in this main producing region of South Karnakata has dwindled this year. Anticipating a shortfall in the crop, Boregowda, did not bother starting up his jaggery-making unit this year.

Nagaraju, chairman of the Maharaja Producers Company, a collective of 13 coconut growers’ federation in the region, says the government should help farmers rejuvenate their plantations.

The dry-belts of Mysuru have an even more horrific tale. “It has not rained for more more than seven months,” says Mahadevamma of Herele, in HD Kote taluk. The yields of the ragi crop were lower, and large tracts of farmlands have been left fallow.

The same is the case in Tumkur and Chitradurga districts; in Kolar, the major tomato-producing region, tomato planting in summer has taken a hit by 30-40 per cent, by official estimates.

Crop loss estimates The State Government has estimated the crop loss during the kharif season of 2016-17 at ₹17,193 crore. It has sought ₹4,702 crore in assistance; the Centre has so far sanctioned ₹1,682 crore, but has released only ₹450 crore, say officials. The rabi season crop losses are estimated at ₹7,098 crore; the State has sought ₹3,310 crore in Central assistance, but is yet to hear from New Delhi.

Under MGNREGA, ₹2,716 crore was spent till February-end in Karnataka, generating 7.64 crore man-days, achieving 76.44 per cent of the target. Owing to severe drought in the State, the Centre has increased the target of man-days from 6.6 crore to 10 crore for fiscal 2016–17. “Since it was difficult to execute manual work in summer, it was decided to provide 25 per cent relaxation in the quantum of work in March, 30 per cent each in April and May, and 20 per cent in June,” said HK Patil, Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj.

The State has augmented water supplies and has been providing water through tankers. Additionally, the services of private bore wells have been hired to mitigate the crisis, officials said.

Yet, farmers are not happy with the government’s drought management or intervention. “There is inadequate water and fodder,” said Kurbur Shantakumar. “The government has neither waived off the loans nor stopped the recovery.”

On March 14, the government disbursed ₹671 crore (of which the Centre’s share is ₹450 crore) as drought relief, crop loss insurance and input subsidy to farmers, by way of direct transfer into farmers’ bank accounts seeded with Aadhar.

Prakash Kammaradi, Chairman of the Karnataka Agriculture Prices Commission, says there is a need to strengthen the crop insurance system and harmonise various relief schemes.

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