The Hindu : Other States / Rajasthan News : 'Cotton is finished this year'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jul 23, 2004

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Other States - Rajasthan

'Cotton is finished this year'

By Mohammed Iqbal

SRIGANGANAGAR (RAJASTHAN), JULY 22. The prolonged dry spell threatening to turn into a full-fledged drought in this major centre of cotton production in Rajasthan has been compounded by the Punjab Government's recent decision to terminate all water-sharing agreements. Ironically, this region adjoining Punjab has three fully functional irrigation systems.

The sowing of major kharif crops in the region -- cotton, sugarcane and groundnut -- has fallen far short of the targets and the standing crops have been damaged on a large scale due to paucity of water. Cotton, considered the lifeline of local farmers, has been sown in an area measuring 1.16-lakh hectares against the target of 1.42-lakh hectares.

The availability of water in the three canal systems bringing the Ravi-Beas waters to the area -- Indira Gandhi Canal, Gang Canal and Bhakhra Canal -- was low even during the sowing season in March and April this year. The sowing of cotton was also adversely affected by the early onset of summer.

The farmers fear that after the monsoon played truant, the Ravi-Beas waters drawn from the Harike barrage can be stopped any moment even though Punjab has assured that the existing utilisation by the neighbouring States would not be affected. The Kisan Sangharsh Samiti, a local organisation of farmers, has launched an agitation against the Punjab Government's move.

The Indira Gandhi Canal's command area was deprived of water during the sowing season following the restriction imposed on the release of water for irrigation due to inadequate supply from Harike barrage. The Bhakhra Beas Management Board had fixed the share of Rajasthan at 8,935 cusecs during July, but the supply was to the tune of 7,300 cusecs during the first two weeks of the month.

The embargo on release of water for irrigation was lifted only on July 16.

"We drew excess water from Punjab during January-February this year to meet the demand of agitating farmers. This led to paucity of water at a critical time for crops, when water was released only for drinking,'' Kuldeep Bishnoi, Executive Engineer in Irrigation Department, told The Hindu.

The primarily agrarian economy of this fertile cotton belt has received a resounding blow due to the inordinate delay in monsoon. It is almost certain that the farmers will incur heavy losses on the input investments made in their fields this year. The Agriculture Department's effort to encourage farmers to sow crops that consume less water has seemingly failed.

"The cotton plants have started withering and have either not developed lobes or broken their rudimentary lobes. Cotton is finished this year,'' Surjeet Ram, working in a field on the Sriganganagar-Karanpur road, said. As for sugarcane, its plants have attained very little height and the hopes for a good harvest have been shattered.

The Kisan Sangharsh Samiti has called upon the Governments of Rajasthan and Punjab to come to the rescue of farmers, who have lost all hope of saving their crops. "Stoppage of water supply in the canal systems will not only destroy agriculture in Rajasthan but also dismantle the transport industry in Punjab,'' said Subhash Sehgal, the Sangharsh Samiti leader and a lawyer.

The local office of the Directorate of Agriculture has since sent its report on the current status of crops to the State Government and underlined the need to popularise the sowing short duration crops and crops consuming less water as part of the contingency plan.

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