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Farmers wilt under fodder, water crisis in Karnataka -Vishwanath Kulkarni & Anil Urs
-The Hindu Business Line

Bengaluru: “There is no wateror fodder this year, and it has become tough to manage my three cows,” says Nagamma, a dairy farmer at Maradevanahalli village in Maddur taluk. The cows and her one-acre farm are her only sources of livelihood. “The milk yields have reduced: these days I get only about 5-6 litres, against 10-12 litres earlier,” she adds.

The Maradevanahalli village panchayat provides about 200 litres of water per family, twice a week. But it is difficult to manage with that, and Nagamma has to turn to private well owners in the village.

Dairying is a major revenue stream for small and medium-sized farmers in Maddur and Mandya region. But as outputs shrink, farmers are struggling: the cost of dry fodder has shot up to Rs.20,000-30,000 a truckload, against Rs.5,000 in normal times. Maradevanahalli villagers are forced to fetch it from 70-80 km away.

Declining water table

Even big farmers like Gururaju are affected. “The water table has declined, and we need to drill wells to at least 1,200-1,300 feet,” he says. He has sunk seven borewells on his 25-acre farm, but only one of them yields water. “I have to give the second crop a miss,” he laments.

Ragi, coconut and silkworm rearing (sericulture) are the main crops in areas around Maradevanahalli, where farmers practice mainly dryland farming. “This is year, there is no ragi and no rearing of silkworms,” says Shivaraju, another farmer. The village tank is being de-silted under the MNREGA rural employment scheme, and most of the villagers are engaged in the operations. As Karnataka reels under the impact of its fourth consecutive drought, the production of key crops such as paddy, sugarcane and even the staple ragi has taken a hit, affecting the output and resulting in a price spiral.

“Even sugarcane leaves, which are normally trashed as waste, has found value this year” says Kurbur Shantakumar, President of the Karnataka Sugarcane Growers Association.

Desperate farmers have taken to feeding their cattle with sugarcane leaves. But even the sugarcane crop has shrunk by about 50-60 per cent in South Karnataka. Apart from the lack of adequate rains, the receding water table in the region has aggravated the farmers’ woes. About 40-50 per cent of the estimated 25 lakh wells in the State are dry.

Wilting coconut plantations, large tracts of farmlands left fallow for lack of water are a common sight across the old Mysuru region, which ironically has a well-developed irrigation network. There are sporadic small patches of sugarcane, but farmers are struggling to save those farms.

Lack of power

Farmers additionally have to deal with the lack of electricity. Though more villages are coming under the Nirantara Jyothi scheme, where single-phase electricity is being provided, farmers are unable to operate pumpsets, which require more power. The three-phase power supply is very erratic.

K Boriah, Secretary of the Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha, says, “We are witnessing such a severe drought for the first time in the region. Farmers have been forced to leave their lands fallow in this well-irrigated region.”

The severe water deficit has further aggravated the agrarian distress in Mandya, which witnessed a spate of farm suicides in recent years.

“We have to be content with a single crop this year,” said Boregowda, a farmer at Kibbanahalli. Farming is no longer viable even in the irrigated areas, he adds. Cane output in this main producing region of South Karnakata has dwindled this year. Anticipating a shortfall in the crop, Boregowda, did not bother starting up his jaggery-making unit this year.

Nagaraju, chairman of the Maharaja Producers Company, a collective of 13 coconut growers’ federation in the region, says the government should help farmers rejuvenate their plantations.

The dry-belts of Mysuru have an even more horrific tale. “It has not rained for more more than seven months,” says Mahadevamma of Herele, in HD Kote taluk. The yields of the ragi crop were lower, and large tracts of farmlands have been left fallow.

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