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Better rates no relief for drought-hit farmers

Siddhesh Inamdar

Not only the quantity, even the quality of the sugarcane yield has suffered
Finding cheap labour is another problem that most farmers confront

SOLAPUR: In the State’s sugar belt of Western Maharashtra, the price of sugar is the price of power. In his first campaign speech last Sunday, Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar shrugged off criticism for rising sugar prices, saying that the upward spiral had actually meant better prices for sugarcane growers. These farmers, however, are not impressed.

The drought this year has meant a low produce. So, though the farmers are being paid better rates by sugar companies , the net result is that they have not benefited greatly.

“The drought on the one hand and the better prices on the other meant that there was neither profit nor loss,” says Shiva Patil, a sugarcane grower in Solapur’s Kumthe village. “In fact, the remuneration has been worse than what we got all these years.”

Patil claims that because of the drought, the produce from his two acres under sugarcane was only 25 tonnes, as against 45 tonnes on just one acre previously. Even if he gets as much as Rs. 1,800 for a tonne, his income will be Rs. 54,000 for the whole year. Deducting the production cost of about Rs. 10,000, his annual income comes to just a little over Rs. 40,000. This used to be much higher earlier, despite a relatively lower rate from the company.

Solapur’s District Superintending Agriculture Officer D.L. Tambale contradicts this. “The productivity has fallen by 20 per cent, But the prices have doubled. The drought will only affect those dependent on wells for water, and not those that fall under the command area of dams.”

“Also, it has become difficult to find cheap labour,” he says. “Earlier, you could get women who worked for Rs. 30 a day. Now, they ask for Rs. 60 a day. For the last few years, labourers have been going to a nearby factory that employs them to clean liquor bottles.” As a result, the cost of production has gone up, while the produce has gone down.

Not only has the produce diminished but so has its quality. Pointing to his sugarcane crop he says, “It is neither as tall nor as thick as it used to be all these years.” Last year, Patil decided to plant wheat to make up for the low sugarcane yield , again the result of a drought.

Solapur falls in the rain-shadow area and is the district receiving the lowest rainfall in the State. Despite looking good initially, his crop got infected and his produce was only three bags of wheat instead of an expected 30. Out of frustration, he likens farming to gambling. “Maybe I’ll make more money if I just sell all my land and put the money in a bank,” he considers. “But this is land tilled by my ancestors. I can’t just sell it off.” However, he has kept his sons out of farming, sending one to work in an export company in Pune while helping another start a grocery store in the village.

Importance of elections

Irrespective of whether the better prices have done any good for the farmers, the managing director of a sugar cooperative on the outskirts of Solapur city believes that the reason behind the better prices is not so much the drought but the elections.

“The Statutory Minimum Price at which we have to pay farmers is Rs. 1050 a tonne,” he says. “But cooperatives that are run by political leaders pay at much higher rates for electoral gains.”

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