The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Farm workers reap seasonal gains

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Wednesday, Oct 24, 2007
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Farm workers reap seasonal gains

S. Harpal Singh

Demand for labour increases manifold in cotton fields attracting migrants

Boom time: Farm labourers from Maharashtra arriving at Adilabad railway station in view of the heavy demand for cotton pickings.

ADILABAD: Thanks to the extensive cultivation of Bt cotton, agricultural labourers too are ‘reaping’ a good harvest of wages this season in Adilabad. The demand for labourers has increased manifold, because in almost all fields the Bt variety of cotton has come to picking stage at the same time.

Attractive wages

Labourers from nearby villages in Maharashtra, mainly from the taluka headquarters of Kinwat in Nanded district are arriving in hordes since the last two days, attracted by the good wages here. Labourers at present are being paid even Rs. 3 per kilogram of cotton picked against the Rs. 2 that prevailed last year.

An estimated 50,000 agriculture labourers working in cotton-intensive areas in the district are inadequate for picking up cotton in over 2 lakh hectares. About the same number is needed additionally to meet the demand.

A farmer owning 10 acres of cotton fields needs about four labourers, preferably females, for about 15 to days 20 days for picking up the crop. Each labourer picks about 80 kgs of cotton per day that makes it very attractive at Rs. 3 a kg.

Anxious farmers wait at the Adilabad railway station for the passenger train to arrive from Maharashtra in order to ‘catch’ them as soon as they alight. The labourers are transported in jeeps to the respective fields where arrangement for their stay is made for a period of about one month. The labourers are sometimes also provided with food for their entire stay. In such cases the wages are paid at the rate of Rs. 2.50 paise per kg.

“We cannot afford to let the cotton at the mercy of any unseasonal rainfall. The sooner we sell the produce the better,” pointed out R. Laxman Rao, a farmer from Guda in Jainad mandal, who came to the railway station in search of the labourers.

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