As cotton and paddy crops fail, over 300 Telangana farmers end life

Agrarian crisis has hit Telangana as poor cotton and paddy crops have landed farmers in the State in huge debts in the kharif season this year. Some 330 farmers have committed suicide in the last five months, unable to bear the financial burden. While rains played truant forcing growers to go for two-three sowings, they were forced to depend on private lenders as banks shut their doors on them.

Farmers could cover only two-thirds of the 1.20 lakh acre kharif area. And half of the cropped area of 80 lakh acres was damaged.

Farmers totally require ₹18,000-20,000 crore in the kharif season, with bulk of the funds going into cotton farming. But banks refused to give them loans as the deadlock over the loan waiver scheme continued almost till October-end.

“They borrowed heavily from private lenders with interest rates ranging from 40-50 per cent. Cotton farmers are the worst hit as the picking trends indicate yields of only 2-3 quintals an acre against 8-12 quintals,” Sarampally Malla Reddy, All India Vice-President of Kisan Sabha, told BusinessLine on Tuesday.

Worse still, they are getting a price of only ₹3,500 a quintal against ₹4,500 announced by the Centre. The State Government had put the cost of production at ₹5,800.

Figures show that the farmers are destined to end up in losses. Absence of rains impacted farmers in two ways. While they delayed the harvest, poor rains also hit hydel power production. The fact that the State faced a shortage of 20-30 million units every day in September and October reveals the gravity of the problem.

GV Ramanjaneyulu, Chief Executive Officer of Centre for Sustainable Agriculture, said that the Government was not even recognising the suicides. “For the last one decade, we have been witnessing farm suicides after October when the season ends. But this time, the number has already crossed the 300-mark. The underlying problem remains worrisome as the rabi season approaches,” he said.

Visualising the impending scarcity for power and water in rabi, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhara Rao has asked the farmers to shun paddy and go for pulses and millets that consume less water.

The Government released ₹4,500 crore for loan waiver scheme, clearing a quarter of the loans. But it came too late as the loan requirements for the kharif season almost came to an end. “A good number of farmers took loans thrice, ₹10,000 each time, as they had to sow thrice, compounding the woes,” Ramanjaneyulu said.

“The Government is in denial mode. It must first recognise the deaths and address the problem. We are holding dharnas in front of the district Collectorates with the kin of the deceased,” Malla Reddy, who leads the CPM-affiliated farmers’ organisation, said.

When contacted, Minister for Agriculture Pocharam Srinivasa Reddy said that the situation was serious.

“We have appointed a committee to study the issue of suicides in particular and drought conditions in general. We will take measures to improve the situation after receiving the report and going through the recommendations,” he said.

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