Trees cut, farmhands die like flies in summer

No shades of trees in agriculture fields 

Cutting down of trees, that give shade in the agriculture fields is killing the farmers and farm labourers by dozens.

Faced with the extreme heat and lack of a protective mechanism in the fields, seven of them died of sunstroke in the last 15 days in the Adilabad district alone.   

Farm workers and farmers now and then used to stop work and take rest under the shades of trees tamarind, mango, and neem trees.

That helped them cool their body from the high temperatures. However, with much of such trees cut, the farmhands are forced to work without a shade.

The streams and rivulets that existed near agriculture fields have also vanished over the years. These also used to be of help to farmers, as they kept some part of the agricultural area cool.  

Farmers used to raise trees on ‘Gattlu’(left over the areas) but in recent times, they removed the Gattlu and converted those areas too into agricultural fields to increase the area under crops. Many farmers cut the tree in their agriculture fields and sold to contractors for firewood. So as to make some extra money.

Convenor of the district Athma Hatyala Nivarana committee Sangepu Borranna said as many as 12 NREGS laborers and seven farmers have died of sunstroke in the last 15 days. “The deforestation of agriculture fields started showing its impact on the farmers.

Most of the NREGS labourers and farmers who died after returning home from the work”, he said. He observed that farmers were using umbrellas for shade in their agriculture fields, as there were no trees.

Three deaths fo farmhands occurred in the district in the last five days. Sonerao,45, and Sidam Devrao , 50, of Nandigoan village in Barampur gram panchayat died of sunstroke in Talamadugu mandal and also Jakkula Ramesh,42, Kura village in Jainad mandal died of the same. Jakkula Ramesh was fainted and died while working in his agriculture fields.

Earlier, farmers used to leftover the land enabling the tractors to move freely in the agriculture fields but now space has reduced to allowing only one person to walk.

The number of traditional huts (Manche or Gudise) is coming down in the agriculture fields nearer to mandal headquarters and gram panchayat and such huts were seen now only in interior areas.

Farmer suicides: Telangana to promote check dams

State government will promote check dams to increase the ground water table, and help in preventing farmer distress in the Telangana.

The check dams will be constructed on rivulets and streams along with the bridges to improve the ground water table to save standing crops during drought in order to prevent farmer suicides in the Telangana state.

Panchayatraj and Roads and buildings departments have to inform the irrigation department while they were constructing bridges on rivulets and stream and even small rivers so that irrigation department construct check dams at such places.

State government has issued instruction to the Panchayatraj and R&B departments to prepare designs of the bridges on streams and rivulets consulting irrigation officials. 

Reports revealed that some farmers had fallen into debt after digging many borewells but failed to get water for agriculture due drastic fall in the ground water at many places.

The state government is of the opinion that farmers were resorting to suicides due to crop failure and subsequent debts due to crop failures during drought and following the borewells dried up following the drastic fall in ground water table.

Borewells they dug goes dry within no time and this was resulted in low yields even after investing huge amounts in digging borewells.

State government found that water from rivulets and streams flowing downstream without any use and enters into sea at last. At many places, there were no check dams on rivulets and streams especially hilly areas and water flows to down stream.

It is also found that overflowing water from tanks goes downstream without any check and go waste but things become worst during summer when there were no rains or scanty rainfall.      

Minister for irrigation T. Harish Rao said ‘they were going to promote check dams on big scale in the state and construct check dams near Swarna irrigation project in Mudhole in the Adilabad to improve the ground water table for agriculture purposes and said state government will give nine hours uninterrupted power to agriculture from next Kharif’.

State government is making serious efforts to install new electric transformers and set up power sub-station to give uninterrupted power supply to the agriculture in future.

Farmers to get barcoded ID's

The marketing department will issue barcoded identity cards containing farmers’ details for use in cotton purchases to control irregularities at the Market yards in the Telangana.

Details of land, crops, bank account, pattadar pass book will be barcoded into the cards. Efforts are being made to start the commercial cotton purchases from September 27 in the Adilabad district.    

It is learnt that state government came out issue barcode  identity cards for farmers following the reports of huge irregularities in cotton purchases in Kharif-2014 in Warangal, Karimnagar and Adilabad districts.

It was found that cotton commission agents and owners of the Cotton ginning and pressing factors had purchased the cotton produce at low prices from the farmers on benami names and sold it to the Cotton Corporation of India at higher prices.

The farmers, already facing distress, were deprived of even minimum support price of Rs 4,050 announced by the Central government last Kharif.

Collector M. Jagan Mohan said they the use of the barcoded ID cards would prevent irregularities in the cotton purchases at market yards.

Minister Jogu Ramanna said nearly 56 lakh quintals of cotton purchases takes place last Kharif in the district.

But the Agriculture department figures showed that cotton crop was badly damaged and withered due to drought conditions and cotton yields were low and did not cross 35 lakh quintals in the last Kharif in the Adilabad district.

Nearly 21 lakh of cotton was purchased from the farmers of bordering Maharashtra and other parts of state at cheaper prices and sold to the CCI of Adilabad branch, at MSP of Rs 4,050 by the middlemen and owner of the ginning factories.

Even the Adilabad marketing department claimed that its revenue in terms of taxes on cotton purchases had been increased, contradicting the agriculture department figures.        

LAN weighing machines at Adilabad market

The state government is for the first time setting up LAN weighing machines system at Adilabad market yard for the benefit of the farmers for easy unloading of their cotton produce.

Nearly 10 CCTV Cameras will be set up at weighing machines and at in and out entrance points for transparency and to avoid malpractices in the weighting cotton produce brought by the farmers.

There will be no need of weighting the only vehicle after unloading the cotton produce on the same weighing machines.           

Good growth of cotton, soya brings cheer to farmers

After a gap of thee years, cotton and soya farmers are elated over good growth of the plants due to timely rains and they are expecting good yield this season unlike like last three seasons.

But, the cultivation area has come down when compared to expected area due to huge delay in monsoon. Rain fed crops got sufficient rainfall in Kharif but paddy suffered a lot.     

Farmers say that the timely rains saved their crops otherwise the situation would be worst, as they had lost three successive seasons due to drought conditions and incurred huge loss.

Cotton farmers were busy in operations of weeding and spraying chemicals to the plants. On the other hand, farmers did not get institutional financial support this season and not much benefit out of crop loan wavier by the state government.

At many places, bankers did not give crop loan to the tenant farmers as usual this season also despite having eligibility certificates issued to the tenant farmers by the state government.

Meanwhile, paddy cultivation has begun little late waiting for rains and gradually picked up the paddy operations across the district.

There was a lot of confusion in disbursement of fresh crop loans to the farmers by the bankers and no authority was ready to clear the doubts raised on crop loans and crop loan waiver and charging interest by the farmers. 

Various crops were cultivated only in 5.10 lakh hectors against the expected area 5.70 lakh hectares in the district in Kharif. Cotton was sown in 3.15 lakh hectares against 3.50 lalkh hectares and Soya in 93,000 hectares against 1.25 lakh hectare and paddy in 14,000 hectares against he expected 56,000 hectares while Redgram in 46,000 hectares where as the expected area was just 42,000 hectares in the district.

According to official sources out of total 52 mandals, 14 mandals were facing deficit rainfall , 19 mandals received excess rainfall and Jannaram, Madamarri and  Kasipet mandals were facing scanty rainfall. There was 20 percent deficit of rainfall as only 596.2 mm rain fall received against the 743.4 mm rainfall by this time in the district.      

Farmer J. Dashrath of Ichoda expressed happiness over growth the cotton plants due to timely rains unlike in the last three seasons and hoped that they would get good yield this time.

Money lenders fleece farmers

 The prolonged drought conditions have come as a boon for money lenders who are         popularly known as cotton commission agents in the Adilabad district of Telangana.

Money lenders or middlemen, who are popularly known as cotton commission agents who give loans and sell agriculture inputs to the farmers had amassed large tracts of agriculture lands and became land lords by exploiting the farmers.

Most of the cotton commission agents forced the farmers to mortgage their lands or register farmers’ lands in their names to give crop loans. Such incidents are on the rise in the recent years due prolonged dry spell and prevailing drought conditions.

Middlemen are not giving loans to the farmers without mortgaging the land unlike in the past.

Earlier, these agents used to give loans to the farmers and there was good will among them, but they suspect that farmers may not repay loans in the wake of continuous drought conditions in the last three seasons. So they buy same land by   fixing a price if the farmers failed to repay the loan. The farmers have to bear the expenses of the land mutation in the name of cotton commission agent.

The cotton commission agents will return the land transfer documents after cancelling land mutation if farmer repays the loan.    

It is said that now each money lender or cotton commission agent have nearly 150- 300 acres of agriculture lands with them which were mortgaged by distressed farmers for loans.

There was every possibility of becoming owner of that land if the farmer failed to repay the loan due to mounting interest for a given time.

Farmer Naveen of Pochera in Adilabad mandal said ‘cotton commission agents charge 20-25 interest per annum on the loans they give to the farmers and most of the times the interest will be calculated for six months and farmers repay their loans but cotton commission agents charge for the one year period.

The cotton commission agents sell the pesticides, fertilizers and seeds at exorbitant prices and charge additional interest on the already hiked prices of agriculture inputs.      

The cotton commission agents have became popular and powerful over a period of time with the increased cultivation of cotton in the Adilabad , Utnoor divisions and became mediators to the owners of the private cotton ginning and pressing factories in and around the Adilabad town.

Some of the cotton commission agents in the Adilabad division became so strong that even they were funding to the political leaders contesting in the elections and few cotton commission agents have started showing their wealth lavishly constructing posh buildings worth crores of rupees.

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