Drought ruins crops, farmers

Karimnagar
Nov. 15: The devastating impact of drought is slowly unfolding in the district as people, mainly farmers, are increasingly driven to suicides.
About 30 farmers have ended their lives in the district so far this year reportedly due to financial problems.
The state government declared 54 mandals out of the total 57 as drought-affected. The district received 35 per cent less rain fall causing drying up of crops like paddy, maize, pulses in large parts of the district.
The loss due to drying up of crops is estimated at Rs 500 crore in the district.
After paddy, the cotton is the most cultivated crop in the district.
However, half of the cotton crop has withered away because of truant rains. The farmers had to invest heavily to salvage whatever crop that survived the dry spell but what they are getting for their produce is a pittance compared to their expenses. According to sources, it costs Rs 7,000 to 8,000 to cultivate cotton in an acre of land. Surprisingly, the much-hyped Bt cotton has also fallen prey to the pest attacks thus leading farmers to spend more money and getting reduced output.
Despite heavy investment of up to Rs 10,000 per acre, the farmers got only four to five quintals of cotton. The Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) categorised the produce into ABCD based on the quality. The cotton produced in the district being of low quality in view of drought and pest attacks, the CCI is paying the price ranging between Rs 2,950 to Rs 2,800 per quintal.
Moreover, the CCI is not purchasing the entire produce in the district thus leaving farmers to the mercy of unscrupulous traders.
While the district is undergoing the severest drought since the ones in 1999 and 2002, the state government’s response is anything but adequate.
Banks failed to reschedule existing loans to farmers let alone giving new ones.
The administration could not make good on its promise of providing 100 days of work for families in drought mandals.
As a result, hundreds of families from villages, mainly in upland mandals of Gangadhara, Kodimyala, Sircilla, Bejjanki, Medipalli, Kathlapur and Malyala, are migrating to far off places like Mumbai and Bhiwandi in search of work.