Periamotur, Vellore District, Jan 9: “I don’t know how much we spend every month,” says a V. Vanitha, after she and her husband R. Vellikannan, spend five minutes trying to figure out their monthly expenses. Vellikannan and Vanitha are farmers in Poonaikuttaipallam in Periamotur, Tirupathur taluk, Vellore district. Both of them are illiterates who live off the acre of land they own. Rain is the only source of water. The neighbouring well has run dry due to low rainfall.
“I spent almost Rs. 5000 for sowing this cotton. I am now keeping the harvest at home and not selling it until the price rises. The market price is only Rs. 2700 per quintal. Last year we got Rs. 3000 per quintal,” says Vellikannan. The Cotton Corporation of India increased its Minimum Support Price (MSP) by 39% last month to Rs. 2500.
Vellikannan says that he used to harvest almost 10 quintals of cotton every year, but this year he won’t get half as much, due to low rainfall. According to ikisan.com, the total cost of producing a quintal of cotton for a small farmer like Vellikannan is almost Rs. 2250.
“I used to work as a labourer in Himachal Pradesh. I have used our own savings to cultivate this crop and haven’t gone to the moneylender. All three of my daughters are in school. How will we manage?” asks Vellikannan.
The cotton is grown between June and January, of the following year. During the rest of the year, Vellikannan and Vanitha grow tomato and ash gourd.
Sampath grows cotton with his wife and two daughters on their 2.5 acres. They share a borewell with a neighbouring farmer.
“It costs Rs. 50,000 to sink a borewell. When the water table is normal, it irrigates up to five acres a day. But now, only half an acre can be irrigated,” says Sampath, who has invested Rs. 15,000 in sowing his land. He too has not gone to a moneylender.
During a good year, the prices go up to Rs. 4000 per quintal. Look at our fate this year. I haven’t hired labourers for harvesting. Even my married daughter has come to help us,” Sampath says.
When not working on the land, Sampath works as a construction labourer while his younger daughter and wife roll beedis. Sampath hopes to get work digging a government sponsored rainwater storage tank, on which work is expected to start soon.
Farmers associations have demanded that the MSP of all crops be at least 30% more than the cost of producing them. The Press Information Bureau’s jubilant announcement of an MSP increase, that is even lower than the market price, is a slap on the faces of farmers here in Vellore district whose children are forced to roll bidis when they should be doing their homework.
No comments:
Post a Comment