Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 73
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Code Context


        trigger_error($message, E_USER_DEPRECATED);

    }
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 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php.'
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deprecationWarning - CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311
Cake\Http\ServerRequest::offsetGet() - CORE/src/Http/ServerRequest.php, line 2421
App\Controller\ArtileDetailController::printArticle() - APP/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line 73
Cake\Controller\Controller::invokeAction() - CORE/src/Controller/Controller.php, line 610
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 120
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 94
Cake\Http\BaseApplication::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/BaseApplication.php, line 235
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
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Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
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Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Error\Middleware\ErrorHandlerMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Error/Middleware/ErrorHandlerMiddleware.php, line 96
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Http\Runner::run() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 51
Cake\Http\Server::run() - CORE/src/Http/Server.php, line 98

Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 74
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Code Context


        trigger_error($message, E_USER_DEPRECATED);

    }
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 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php.'
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deprecationWarning - CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311
Cake\Http\ServerRequest::offsetGet() - CORE/src/Http/ServerRequest.php, line 2421
App\Controller\ArtileDetailController::printArticle() - APP/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line 74
Cake\Controller\Controller::invokeAction() - CORE/src/Controller/Controller.php, line 610
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 120
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 94
Cake\Http\BaseApplication::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/BaseApplication.php, line 235
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\RoutingMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/RoutingMiddleware.php, line 162
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\AssetMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/AssetMiddleware.php, line 88
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Error\Middleware\ErrorHandlerMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Error/Middleware/ErrorHandlerMiddleware.php, line 96
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Http\Runner::run() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 51
Cake\Http\Server::run() - CORE/src/Http/Server.php, line 98

Warning (512): Unable to emit headers. Headers sent in file=/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php line=853 [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 48]
Code Context
            if (Configure::read('debug')) {

                trigger_error($message, E_USER_WARNING);

            } else {
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-The Hindu Business Line&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;In the Cauvery delta&amp;rsquo;s worst drought in 140 years, a padyatra brings home the harsh realities of how Tamil farmers are living on the edge and what sustains their resilience&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
A farmer sells his sugar cane to the local public sector sugar mill, where he is mandated to sell his crop. Instead of paying, the factory hands him a slip of paper. Eighteen months pass by and he &amp;lsquo;sells&amp;rsquo; the next crop to the same mill. There is still no payment. The farmer takes a loan in anticipation of the ?4 lakh-odd that is owed to him by the sugar mill. Meanwhile, rains fail and groundwater levels drop. He takes another loan to dig a new borewell; the bore also fails. The company still does not pay his dues. His creditors lose patience and he caves into hopelessness.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Selvaraj had committed suicide the day before we arrived in Thanjavur as part of a four-day Farmers&amp;rsquo; Rights Yatra or Ulavar Urimai Payanam across seven of the worst drought-hit districts of Tamil Nadu &amp;mdash; Nagapattinam, Thiruvarur, Thanjavur, Perambalur, Ariyalur Karur and Tiruchirappalli. Among the most fertile areas in the country, the Cauvery delta is the rice bowl of the State. The drought in this region, unprecedented in the last 140 years, since 1876 to be precise, got Swaraj Abhiyan to embark on the yatra along with members of civil society from the National Alliance of People&amp;rsquo;s Movement, Ekta Parishad and Alliance for Holistic and Sustainable Agriculture.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The statistics are well-known. The rainfall deficit during October to December, the main monsoon months for this region, was 62 per cent. Nearly 87 per cent of the region&amp;rsquo;s farmlands has been affected. Water level in the State reservoirs is down to one-fifth of their capacity. In January, prompted by ground reports of 144 farmers committing suicide, the State declared drought across all 32 districts, with 22 severely hit, and some with rainfall deficit as high as 81 per cent. The worst-affected were Nagapattinam, Thiruvarur and Thanjavur. For instance, in Nagapattinam, 80 per cent of the paddy sown by 1,35,000 farmers didn&amp;rsquo;t flower. The agriculture ministry&amp;rsquo;s sowing data shows that till early February, farmers in Tamil Nadu planted rice in 7.5 lakh hectares, substantially lower than the 12.8 lakh hectares in the previous year. The same month, the Tamil Nadu government sought ?39,565 crore as drought relief from the National Disaster Response Fund.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
We first encountered some of these farmers at the dharna organised at Jantar Mantar in Delhi. Led by the articulate and charismatic Ayyakanu, these farmers used innovative and shocking techniques to draw the country&amp;rsquo;s attention to their plight, even wearing a garland of skulls they claimed belonged to farmers who had committed suicide. While we took the matter to the Supreme Court, we resolved to visit their home turf to understand their plight better.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Cauvery delta is no Bundelkhand, we told ourselves. Over the course of our samvedna yatra to various drought-affected States in 2015 and padyatra in Marathwada and Bundelkhand in 2016, we thought we had seen the worst instances of hunger, malnutrition and cattle famine. After all, the State has not withered away in Tamil Nadu, as it appears to have in many parts of the Hindi heartland. The administrative and social welfare systems are largely in working condition. After the tsunami, the State kicked into a model of disaster relief work. And yet, our motley bunch &amp;mdash; comprising academics, advocates, chartered accountants, activists and a retired corporate honcho &amp;mdash; were in for a few surprises. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/blink/know/parched-in-tamil-nadus-rice-bowl/article9707120.ece&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more. &lt;br /&gt;
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-The Hindu Business Line

In the Cauvery delta&amp;rsquo;s worst drought in 140 years, a padyatra brings home the harsh realities of how Tamil farmers are living on the edge and what sustains their resilience

A farmer sells his sugar cane to the...&#039;,
	&#039;disp&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;-The Hindu Business Line&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;In the Cauvery delta&amp;rsquo;s worst drought in 140 years, a padyatra brings home the harsh realities of how Tamil farmers are living on the edge and what sustains their resilience&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A farmer sells his sugar cane to the local public sector sugar mill, where he is mandated to sell his crop. Instead of paying, the factory hands him a slip of paper. Eighteen months pass by and he &amp;lsquo;sells&amp;rsquo; the next crop to the same mill. There is still no payment. The farmer takes a loan in anticipation of the ?4 lakh-odd that is owed to him by the sugar mill. Meanwhile, rains fail and groundwater levels drop. He takes another loan to dig a new borewell; the bore also fails. The company still does not pay his dues. His creditors lose patience and he caves into hopelessness.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Selvaraj had committed suicide the day before we arrived in Thanjavur as part of a four-day Farmers&amp;rsquo; Rights Yatra or Ulavar Urimai Payanam across seven of the worst drought-hit districts of Tamil Nadu &amp;mdash; Nagapattinam, Thiruvarur, Thanjavur, Perambalur, Ariyalur Karur and Tiruchirappalli. Among the most fertile areas in the country, the Cauvery delta is the rice bowl of the State. The drought in this region, unprecedented in the last 140 years, since 1876 to be precise, got Swaraj Abhiyan to embark on the yatra along with members of civil society from the National Alliance of People&amp;rsquo;s Movement, Ekta Parishad and Alliance for Holistic and Sustainable Agriculture.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The statistics are well-known. The rainfall deficit during October to December, the main monsoon months for this region, was 62 per cent. Nearly 87 per cent of the region&amp;rsquo;s farmlands has been affected. Water level in the State reservoirs is down to one-fifth of their capacity. In January, prompted by ground reports of 144 farmers committing suicide, the State declared drought across all 32 districts, with 22 severely hit, and some with rainfall deficit as high as 81 per cent. The worst-affected were Nagapattinam, Thiruvarur and Thanjavur. For instance, in Nagapattinam, 80 per cent of the paddy sown by 1,35,000 farmers didn&amp;rsquo;t flower. The agriculture ministry&amp;rsquo;s sowing data shows that till early February, farmers in Tamil Nadu planted rice in 7.5 lakh hectares, substantially lower than the 12.8 lakh hectares in the previous year. The same month, the Tamil Nadu government sought ?39,565 crore as drought relief from the National Disaster Response Fund.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We first encountered some of these farmers at the dharna organised at Jantar Mantar in Delhi. Led by the articulate and charismatic Ayyakanu, these farmers used innovative and shocking techniques to draw the country&amp;rsquo;s attention to their plight, even wearing a garland of skulls they claimed belonged to farmers who had committed suicide. While we took the matter to the Supreme Court, we resolved to visit their home turf to understand their plight better.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Cauvery delta is no Bundelkhand, we told ourselves. Over the course of our samvedna yatra to various drought-affected States in 2015 and padyatra in Marathwada and Bundelkhand in 2016, we thought we had seen the worst instances of hunger, malnutrition and cattle famine. After all, the State has not withered away in Tamil Nadu, as it appears to have in many parts of the Hindi heartland. The administrative and social welfare systems are largely in working condition. After the tsunami, the State kicked into a model of disaster relief work. And yet, our motley bunch &amp;mdash; comprising academics, advocates, chartered accountants, activists and a retired corporate honcho &amp;mdash; were in for a few surprises. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/blink/know/parched-in-tamil-nadus-rice-bowl/article9707120.ece&quot; title=&quot;http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/blink/know/parched-in-tamil-nadus-rice-bowl/article9707120.ece&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
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-The Hindu Business Line&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;In the Cauvery delta&amp;rsquo;s worst drought in 140 years, a padyatra brings home the harsh realities of how Tamil farmers are living on the edge and what sustains their resilience&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
A farmer sells his sugar cane to the local public sector sugar mill, where he is mandated to sell his crop. Instead of paying, the factory hands him a slip of paper. Eighteen months pass by and he &amp;lsquo;sells&amp;rsquo; the next crop to the same mill. There is still no payment. The farmer takes a loan in anticipation of the ?4 lakh-odd that is owed to him by the sugar mill. Meanwhile, rains fail and groundwater levels drop. He takes another loan to dig a new borewell; the bore also fails. The company still does not pay his dues. His creditors lose patience and he caves into hopelessness.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Selvaraj had committed suicide the day before we arrived in Thanjavur as part of a four-day Farmers&amp;rsquo; Rights Yatra or Ulavar Urimai Payanam across seven of the worst drought-hit districts of Tamil Nadu &amp;mdash; Nagapattinam, Thiruvarur, Thanjavur, Perambalur, Ariyalur Karur and Tiruchirappalli. Among the most fertile areas in the country, the Cauvery delta is the rice bowl of the State. The drought in this region, unprecedented in the last 140 years, since 1876 to be precise, got Swaraj Abhiyan to embark on the yatra along with members of civil society from the National Alliance of People&amp;rsquo;s Movement, Ekta Parishad and Alliance for Holistic and Sustainable Agriculture.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The statistics are well-known. The rainfall deficit during October to December, the main monsoon months for this region, was 62 per cent. Nearly 87 per cent of the region&amp;rsquo;s farmlands has been affected. Water level in the State reservoirs is down to one-fifth of their capacity. In January, prompted by ground reports of 144 farmers committing suicide, the State declared drought across all 32 districts, with 22 severely hit, and some with rainfall deficit as high as 81 per cent. The worst-affected were Nagapattinam, Thiruvarur and Thanjavur. For instance, in Nagapattinam, 80 per cent of the paddy sown by 1,35,000 farmers didn&amp;rsquo;t flower. The agriculture ministry&amp;rsquo;s sowing data shows that till early February, farmers in Tamil Nadu planted rice in 7.5 lakh hectares, substantially lower than the 12.8 lakh hectares in the previous year. The same month, the Tamil Nadu government sought ?39,565 crore as drought relief from the National Disaster Response Fund.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
We first encountered some of these farmers at the dharna organised at Jantar Mantar in Delhi. Led by the articulate and charismatic Ayyakanu, these farmers used innovative and shocking techniques to draw the country&amp;rsquo;s attention to their plight, even wearing a garland of skulls they claimed belonged to farmers who had committed suicide. While we took the matter to the Supreme Court, we resolved to visit their home turf to understand their plight better.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Cauvery delta is no Bundelkhand, we told ourselves. Over the course of our samvedna yatra to various drought-affected States in 2015 and padyatra in Marathwada and Bundelkhand in 2016, we thought we had seen the worst instances of hunger, malnutrition and cattle famine. After all, the State has not withered away in Tamil Nadu, as it appears to have in many parts of the Hindi heartland. The administrative and social welfare systems are largely in working condition. After the tsunami, the State kicked into a model of disaster relief work. And yet, our motley bunch &amp;mdash; comprising academics, advocates, chartered accountants, activists and a retired corporate honcho &amp;mdash; were in for a few surprises. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/blink/know/parched-in-tamil-nadus-rice-bowl/article9707120.ece&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
	&#039;credit_writer&#039; =&gt; &#039;The Hindu Business Line, 19 May, 2017, http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/blink/know/parched-in-tamil-nadus-rice-bowl/article9707120.ece&#039;,
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-The Hindu Business Line

In the Cauvery delta&amp;rsquo;s worst drought in 140 years, a padyatra brings home the harsh realities of how Tamil farmers are living on the edge and what sustains their resilience

A farmer sells his sugar cane to the...&#039;
$disp = &#039;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;-The Hindu Business Line&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;In the Cauvery delta&amp;rsquo;s worst drought in 140 years, a padyatra brings home the harsh realities of how Tamil farmers are living on the edge and what sustains their resilience&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A farmer sells his sugar cane to the local public sector sugar mill, where he is mandated to sell his crop. Instead of paying, the factory hands him a slip of paper. Eighteen months pass by and he &amp;lsquo;sells&amp;rsquo; the next crop to the same mill. There is still no payment. The farmer takes a loan in anticipation of the ?4 lakh-odd that is owed to him by the sugar mill. Meanwhile, rains fail and groundwater levels drop. He takes another loan to dig a new borewell; the bore also fails. The company still does not pay his dues. His creditors lose patience and he caves into hopelessness.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Selvaraj had committed suicide the day before we arrived in Thanjavur as part of a four-day Farmers&amp;rsquo; Rights Yatra or Ulavar Urimai Payanam across seven of the worst drought-hit districts of Tamil Nadu &amp;mdash; Nagapattinam, Thiruvarur, Thanjavur, Perambalur, Ariyalur Karur and Tiruchirappalli. Among the most fertile areas in the country, the Cauvery delta is the rice bowl of the State. The drought in this region, unprecedented in the last 140 years, since 1876 to be precise, got Swaraj Abhiyan to embark on the yatra along with members of civil society from the National Alliance of People&amp;rsquo;s Movement, Ekta Parishad and Alliance for Holistic and Sustainable Agriculture.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The statistics are well-known. The rainfall deficit during October to December, the main monsoon months for this region, was 62 per cent. Nearly 87 per cent of the region&amp;rsquo;s farmlands has been affected. Water level in the State reservoirs is down to one-fifth of their capacity. In January, prompted by ground reports of 144 farmers committing suicide, the State declared drought across all 32 districts, with 22 severely hit, and some with rainfall deficit as high as 81 per cent. The worst-affected were Nagapattinam, Thiruvarur and Thanjavur. For instance, in Nagapattinam, 80 per cent of the paddy sown by 1,35,000 farmers didn&amp;rsquo;t flower. The agriculture ministry&amp;rsquo;s sowing data shows that till early February, farmers in Tamil Nadu planted rice in 7.5 lakh hectares, substantially lower than the 12.8 lakh hectares in the previous year. The same month, the Tamil Nadu government sought ?39,565 crore as drought relief from the National Disaster Response Fund.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We first encountered some of these farmers at the dharna organised at Jantar Mantar in Delhi. Led by the articulate and charismatic Ayyakanu, these farmers used innovative and shocking techniques to draw the country&amp;rsquo;s attention to their plight, even wearing a garland of skulls they claimed belonged to farmers who had committed suicide. While we took the matter to the Supreme Court, we resolved to visit their home turf to understand their plight better.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Cauvery delta is no Bundelkhand, we told ourselves. Over the course of our samvedna yatra to various drought-affected States in 2015 and padyatra in Marathwada and Bundelkhand in 2016, we thought we had seen the worst instances of hunger, malnutrition and cattle famine. After all, the State has not withered away in Tamil Nadu, as it appears to have in many parts of the Hindi heartland. The administrative and social welfare systems are largely in working condition. After the tsunami, the State kicked into a model of disaster relief work. And yet, our motley bunch &amp;mdash; comprising academics, advocates, chartered accountants, activists and a retired corporate honcho &amp;mdash; were in for a few surprises. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/blink/know/parched-in-tamil-nadus-rice-bowl/article9707120.ece&quot; title=&quot;http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/blink/know/parched-in-tamil-nadus-rice-bowl/article9707120.ece&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&#039;
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In the Cauvery delta&rsquo;s worst drought in 140 years, a padyatra brings home the harsh realities of how Tamil farmers are living on the edge and what sustains their resilience

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                <strong>Parched in Tamil Nadu&#039;s rice bowl -Avik Saha &amp; Yogendra Yadav</strong></h1>
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                <div align="justify">-The Hindu Business Line<br /><br /><em>In the Cauvery delta&rsquo;s worst drought in 140 years, a padyatra brings home the harsh realities of how Tamil farmers are living on the edge and what sustains their resilience<br /></em><br />A farmer sells his sugar cane to the local public sector sugar mill, where he is mandated to sell his crop. Instead of paying, the factory hands him a slip of paper. Eighteen months pass by and he &lsquo;sells&rsquo; the next crop to the same mill. There is still no payment. The farmer takes a loan in anticipation of the ?4 lakh-odd that is owed to him by the sugar mill. Meanwhile, rains fail and groundwater levels drop. He takes another loan to dig a new borewell; the bore also fails. The company still does not pay his dues. His creditors lose patience and he caves into hopelessness.<br /><br />Selvaraj had committed suicide the day before we arrived in Thanjavur as part of a four-day Farmers&rsquo; Rights Yatra or Ulavar Urimai Payanam across seven of the worst drought-hit districts of Tamil Nadu &mdash; Nagapattinam, Thiruvarur, Thanjavur, Perambalur, Ariyalur Karur and Tiruchirappalli. Among the most fertile areas in the country, the Cauvery delta is the rice bowl of the State. The drought in this region, unprecedented in the last 140 years, since 1876 to be precise, got Swaraj Abhiyan to embark on the yatra along with members of civil society from the National Alliance of People&rsquo;s Movement, Ekta Parishad and Alliance for Holistic and Sustainable Agriculture.<br /><br />The statistics are well-known. The rainfall deficit during October to December, the main monsoon months for this region, was 62 per cent. Nearly 87 per cent of the region&rsquo;s farmlands has been affected. Water level in the State reservoirs is down to one-fifth of their capacity. In January, prompted by ground reports of 144 farmers committing suicide, the State declared drought across all 32 districts, with 22 severely hit, and some with rainfall deficit as high as 81 per cent. The worst-affected were Nagapattinam, Thiruvarur and Thanjavur. For instance, in Nagapattinam, 80 per cent of the paddy sown by 1,35,000 farmers didn&rsquo;t flower. The agriculture ministry&rsquo;s sowing data shows that till early February, farmers in Tamil Nadu planted rice in 7.5 lakh hectares, substantially lower than the 12.8 lakh hectares in the previous year. The same month, the Tamil Nadu government sought ?39,565 crore as drought relief from the National Disaster Response Fund.<br /><br />We first encountered some of these farmers at the dharna organised at Jantar Mantar in Delhi. Led by the articulate and charismatic Ayyakanu, these farmers used innovative and shocking techniques to draw the country&rsquo;s attention to their plight, even wearing a garland of skulls they claimed belonged to farmers who had committed suicide. While we took the matter to the Supreme Court, we resolved to visit their home turf to understand their plight better.<br /><br />Cauvery delta is no Bundelkhand, we told ourselves. Over the course of our samvedna yatra to various drought-affected States in 2015 and padyatra in Marathwada and Bundelkhand in 2016, we thought we had seen the worst instances of hunger, malnutrition and cattle famine. After all, the State has not withered away in Tamil Nadu, as it appears to have in many parts of the Hindi heartland. The administrative and social welfare systems are largely in working condition. After the tsunami, the State kicked into a model of disaster relief work. And yet, our motley bunch &mdash; comprising academics, advocates, chartered accountants, activists and a retired corporate honcho &mdash; were in for a few surprises. <br /><br />Please <a href="http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/blink/know/parched-in-tamil-nadus-rice-bowl/article9707120.ece" title="http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/blink/know/parched-in-tamil-nadus-rice-bowl/article9707120.ece">click here</a> to read more. <br /></div>               </font>
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-The Hindu Business Line&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;In the Cauvery delta&amp;rsquo;s worst drought in 140 years, a padyatra brings home the harsh realities of how Tamil farmers are living on the edge and what sustains their resilience&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
A farmer sells his sugar cane to the local public sector sugar mill, where he is mandated to sell his crop. Instead of paying, the factory hands him a slip of paper. Eighteen months pass by and he &amp;lsquo;sells&amp;rsquo; the next crop to the same mill. There is still no payment. The farmer takes a loan in anticipation of the ?4 lakh-odd that is owed to him by the sugar mill. Meanwhile, rains fail and groundwater levels drop. He takes another loan to dig a new borewell; the bore also fails. The company still does not pay his dues. His creditors lose patience and he caves into hopelessness.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Selvaraj had committed suicide the day before we arrived in Thanjavur as part of a four-day Farmers&amp;rsquo; Rights Yatra or Ulavar Urimai Payanam across seven of the worst drought-hit districts of Tamil Nadu &amp;mdash; Nagapattinam, Thiruvarur, Thanjavur, Perambalur, Ariyalur Karur and Tiruchirappalli. Among the most fertile areas in the country, the Cauvery delta is the rice bowl of the State. The drought in this region, unprecedented in the last 140 years, since 1876 to be precise, got Swaraj Abhiyan to embark on the yatra along with members of civil society from the National Alliance of People&amp;rsquo;s Movement, Ekta Parishad and Alliance for Holistic and Sustainable Agriculture.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The statistics are well-known. The rainfall deficit during October to December, the main monsoon months for this region, was 62 per cent. Nearly 87 per cent of the region&amp;rsquo;s farmlands has been affected. Water level in the State reservoirs is down to one-fifth of their capacity. In January, prompted by ground reports of 144 farmers committing suicide, the State declared drought across all 32 districts, with 22 severely hit, and some with rainfall deficit as high as 81 per cent. The worst-affected were Nagapattinam, Thiruvarur and Thanjavur. For instance, in Nagapattinam, 80 per cent of the paddy sown by 1,35,000 farmers didn&amp;rsquo;t flower. The agriculture ministry&amp;rsquo;s sowing data shows that till early February, farmers in Tamil Nadu planted rice in 7.5 lakh hectares, substantially lower than the 12.8 lakh hectares in the previous year. The same month, the Tamil Nadu government sought ?39,565 crore as drought relief from the National Disaster Response Fund.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
We first encountered some of these farmers at the dharna organised at Jantar Mantar in Delhi. Led by the articulate and charismatic Ayyakanu, these farmers used innovative and shocking techniques to draw the country&amp;rsquo;s attention to their plight, even wearing a garland of skulls they claimed belonged to farmers who had committed suicide. While we took the matter to the Supreme Court, we resolved to visit their home turf to understand their plight better.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Cauvery delta is no Bundelkhand, we told ourselves. Over the course of our samvedna yatra to various drought-affected States in 2015 and padyatra in Marathwada and Bundelkhand in 2016, we thought we had seen the worst instances of hunger, malnutrition and cattle famine. After all, the State has not withered away in Tamil Nadu, as it appears to have in many parts of the Hindi heartland. The administrative and social welfare systems are largely in working condition. After the tsunami, the State kicked into a model of disaster relief work. And yet, our motley bunch &amp;mdash; comprising academics, advocates, chartered accountants, activists and a retired corporate honcho &amp;mdash; were in for a few surprises. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/blink/know/parched-in-tamil-nadus-rice-bowl/article9707120.ece&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more. &lt;br /&gt;
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In the Cauvery delta&amp;rsquo;s worst drought in 140 years, a padyatra brings home the harsh realities of how Tamil farmers are living on the edge and what sustains their resilience

A farmer sells his sugar cane to the...&#039;,
	&#039;disp&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;-The Hindu Business Line&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;In the Cauvery delta&amp;rsquo;s worst drought in 140 years, a padyatra brings home the harsh realities of how Tamil farmers are living on the edge and what sustains their resilience&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A farmer sells his sugar cane to the local public sector sugar mill, where he is mandated to sell his crop. Instead of paying, the factory hands him a slip of paper. Eighteen months pass by and he &amp;lsquo;sells&amp;rsquo; the next crop to the same mill. There is still no payment. The farmer takes a loan in anticipation of the ?4 lakh-odd that is owed to him by the sugar mill. Meanwhile, rains fail and groundwater levels drop. He takes another loan to dig a new borewell; the bore also fails. The company still does not pay his dues. His creditors lose patience and he caves into hopelessness.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Selvaraj had committed suicide the day before we arrived in Thanjavur as part of a four-day Farmers&amp;rsquo; Rights Yatra or Ulavar Urimai Payanam across seven of the worst drought-hit districts of Tamil Nadu &amp;mdash; Nagapattinam, Thiruvarur, Thanjavur, Perambalur, Ariyalur Karur and Tiruchirappalli. Among the most fertile areas in the country, the Cauvery delta is the rice bowl of the State. The drought in this region, unprecedented in the last 140 years, since 1876 to be precise, got Swaraj Abhiyan to embark on the yatra along with members of civil society from the National Alliance of People&amp;rsquo;s Movement, Ekta Parishad and Alliance for Holistic and Sustainable Agriculture.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The statistics are well-known. The rainfall deficit during October to December, the main monsoon months for this region, was 62 per cent. Nearly 87 per cent of the region&amp;rsquo;s farmlands has been affected. Water level in the State reservoirs is down to one-fifth of their capacity. In January, prompted by ground reports of 144 farmers committing suicide, the State declared drought across all 32 districts, with 22 severely hit, and some with rainfall deficit as high as 81 per cent. The worst-affected were Nagapattinam, Thiruvarur and Thanjavur. For instance, in Nagapattinam, 80 per cent of the paddy sown by 1,35,000 farmers didn&amp;rsquo;t flower. The agriculture ministry&amp;rsquo;s sowing data shows that till early February, farmers in Tamil Nadu planted rice in 7.5 lakh hectares, substantially lower than the 12.8 lakh hectares in the previous year. The same month, the Tamil Nadu government sought ?39,565 crore as drought relief from the National Disaster Response Fund.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We first encountered some of these farmers at the dharna organised at Jantar Mantar in Delhi. Led by the articulate and charismatic Ayyakanu, these farmers used innovative and shocking techniques to draw the country&amp;rsquo;s attention to their plight, even wearing a garland of skulls they claimed belonged to farmers who had committed suicide. While we took the matter to the Supreme Court, we resolved to visit their home turf to understand their plight better.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Cauvery delta is no Bundelkhand, we told ourselves. Over the course of our samvedna yatra to various drought-affected States in 2015 and padyatra in Marathwada and Bundelkhand in 2016, we thought we had seen the worst instances of hunger, malnutrition and cattle famine. After all, the State has not withered away in Tamil Nadu, as it appears to have in many parts of the Hindi heartland. The administrative and social welfare systems are largely in working condition. After the tsunami, the State kicked into a model of disaster relief work. And yet, our motley bunch &amp;mdash; comprising academics, advocates, chartered accountants, activists and a retired corporate honcho &amp;mdash; were in for a few surprises. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/blink/know/parched-in-tamil-nadus-rice-bowl/article9707120.ece&quot; title=&quot;http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/blink/know/parched-in-tamil-nadus-rice-bowl/article9707120.ece&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
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	&#039;title&#039; =&gt; &#039;Parched in Tamil Nadu&amp;#039;s rice bowl -Avik Saha &amp;amp; Yogendra Yadav&#039;,
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-The Hindu Business Line&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;In the Cauvery delta&amp;rsquo;s worst drought in 140 years, a padyatra brings home the harsh realities of how Tamil farmers are living on the edge and what sustains their resilience&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
A farmer sells his sugar cane to the local public sector sugar mill, where he is mandated to sell his crop. Instead of paying, the factory hands him a slip of paper. Eighteen months pass by and he &amp;lsquo;sells&amp;rsquo; the next crop to the same mill. There is still no payment. The farmer takes a loan in anticipation of the ?4 lakh-odd that is owed to him by the sugar mill. Meanwhile, rains fail and groundwater levels drop. He takes another loan to dig a new borewell; the bore also fails. The company still does not pay his dues. His creditors lose patience and he caves into hopelessness.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Selvaraj had committed suicide the day before we arrived in Thanjavur as part of a four-day Farmers&amp;rsquo; Rights Yatra or Ulavar Urimai Payanam across seven of the worst drought-hit districts of Tamil Nadu &amp;mdash; Nagapattinam, Thiruvarur, Thanjavur, Perambalur, Ariyalur Karur and Tiruchirappalli. Among the most fertile areas in the country, the Cauvery delta is the rice bowl of the State. The drought in this region, unprecedented in the last 140 years, since 1876 to be precise, got Swaraj Abhiyan to embark on the yatra along with members of civil society from the National Alliance of People&amp;rsquo;s Movement, Ekta Parishad and Alliance for Holistic and Sustainable Agriculture.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The statistics are well-known. The rainfall deficit during October to December, the main monsoon months for this region, was 62 per cent. Nearly 87 per cent of the region&amp;rsquo;s farmlands has been affected. Water level in the State reservoirs is down to one-fifth of their capacity. In January, prompted by ground reports of 144 farmers committing suicide, the State declared drought across all 32 districts, with 22 severely hit, and some with rainfall deficit as high as 81 per cent. The worst-affected were Nagapattinam, Thiruvarur and Thanjavur. For instance, in Nagapattinam, 80 per cent of the paddy sown by 1,35,000 farmers didn&amp;rsquo;t flower. The agriculture ministry&amp;rsquo;s sowing data shows that till early February, farmers in Tamil Nadu planted rice in 7.5 lakh hectares, substantially lower than the 12.8 lakh hectares in the previous year. The same month, the Tamil Nadu government sought ?39,565 crore as drought relief from the National Disaster Response Fund.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
We first encountered some of these farmers at the dharna organised at Jantar Mantar in Delhi. Led by the articulate and charismatic Ayyakanu, these farmers used innovative and shocking techniques to draw the country&amp;rsquo;s attention to their plight, even wearing a garland of skulls they claimed belonged to farmers who had committed suicide. While we took the matter to the Supreme Court, we resolved to visit their home turf to understand their plight better.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Cauvery delta is no Bundelkhand, we told ourselves. Over the course of our samvedna yatra to various drought-affected States in 2015 and padyatra in Marathwada and Bundelkhand in 2016, we thought we had seen the worst instances of hunger, malnutrition and cattle famine. After all, the State has not withered away in Tamil Nadu, as it appears to have in many parts of the Hindi heartland. The administrative and social welfare systems are largely in working condition. After the tsunami, the State kicked into a model of disaster relief work. And yet, our motley bunch &amp;mdash; comprising academics, advocates, chartered accountants, activists and a retired corporate honcho &amp;mdash; were in for a few surprises. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/blink/know/parched-in-tamil-nadus-rice-bowl/article9707120.ece&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
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-The Hindu Business Line

In the Cauvery delta&amp;rsquo;s worst drought in 140 years, a padyatra brings home the harsh realities of how Tamil farmers are living on the edge and what sustains their resilience

A farmer sells his sugar cane to the...&#039;
$disp = &#039;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;-The Hindu Business Line&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;In the Cauvery delta&amp;rsquo;s worst drought in 140 years, a padyatra brings home the harsh realities of how Tamil farmers are living on the edge and what sustains their resilience&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A farmer sells his sugar cane to the local public sector sugar mill, where he is mandated to sell his crop. Instead of paying, the factory hands him a slip of paper. Eighteen months pass by and he &amp;lsquo;sells&amp;rsquo; the next crop to the same mill. There is still no payment. The farmer takes a loan in anticipation of the ?4 lakh-odd that is owed to him by the sugar mill. Meanwhile, rains fail and groundwater levels drop. He takes another loan to dig a new borewell; the bore also fails. The company still does not pay his dues. His creditors lose patience and he caves into hopelessness.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Selvaraj had committed suicide the day before we arrived in Thanjavur as part of a four-day Farmers&amp;rsquo; Rights Yatra or Ulavar Urimai Payanam across seven of the worst drought-hit districts of Tamil Nadu &amp;mdash; Nagapattinam, Thiruvarur, Thanjavur, Perambalur, Ariyalur Karur and Tiruchirappalli. Among the most fertile areas in the country, the Cauvery delta is the rice bowl of the State. The drought in this region, unprecedented in the last 140 years, since 1876 to be precise, got Swaraj Abhiyan to embark on the yatra along with members of civil society from the National Alliance of People&amp;rsquo;s Movement, Ekta Parishad and Alliance for Holistic and Sustainable Agriculture.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The statistics are well-known. The rainfall deficit during October to December, the main monsoon months for this region, was 62 per cent. Nearly 87 per cent of the region&amp;rsquo;s farmlands has been affected. Water level in the State reservoirs is down to one-fifth of their capacity. In January, prompted by ground reports of 144 farmers committing suicide, the State declared drought across all 32 districts, with 22 severely hit, and some with rainfall deficit as high as 81 per cent. The worst-affected were Nagapattinam, Thiruvarur and Thanjavur. For instance, in Nagapattinam, 80 per cent of the paddy sown by 1,35,000 farmers didn&amp;rsquo;t flower. The agriculture ministry&amp;rsquo;s sowing data shows that till early February, farmers in Tamil Nadu planted rice in 7.5 lakh hectares, substantially lower than the 12.8 lakh hectares in the previous year. The same month, the Tamil Nadu government sought ?39,565 crore as drought relief from the National Disaster Response Fund.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We first encountered some of these farmers at the dharna organised at Jantar Mantar in Delhi. Led by the articulate and charismatic Ayyakanu, these farmers used innovative and shocking techniques to draw the country&amp;rsquo;s attention to their plight, even wearing a garland of skulls they claimed belonged to farmers who had committed suicide. While we took the matter to the Supreme Court, we resolved to visit their home turf to understand their plight better.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Cauvery delta is no Bundelkhand, we told ourselves. Over the course of our samvedna yatra to various drought-affected States in 2015 and padyatra in Marathwada and Bundelkhand in 2016, we thought we had seen the worst instances of hunger, malnutrition and cattle famine. After all, the State has not withered away in Tamil Nadu, as it appears to have in many parts of the Hindi heartland. The administrative and social welfare systems are largely in working condition. After the tsunami, the State kicked into a model of disaster relief work. And yet, our motley bunch &amp;mdash; comprising academics, advocates, chartered accountants, activists and a retired corporate honcho &amp;mdash; were in for a few surprises. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/blink/know/parched-in-tamil-nadus-rice-bowl/article9707120.ece&quot; title=&quot;http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/blink/know/parched-in-tamil-nadus-rice-bowl/article9707120.ece&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&#039;
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In the Cauvery delta&rsquo;s worst drought in 140 years, a padyatra brings home the harsh realities of how Tamil farmers are living on the edge and what sustains their resilience

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                <strong>Parched in Tamil Nadu&#039;s rice bowl -Avik Saha &amp; Yogendra Yadav</strong></h1>
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                <div align="justify">-The Hindu Business Line<br /><br /><em>In the Cauvery delta&rsquo;s worst drought in 140 years, a padyatra brings home the harsh realities of how Tamil farmers are living on the edge and what sustains their resilience<br /></em><br />A farmer sells his sugar cane to the local public sector sugar mill, where he is mandated to sell his crop. Instead of paying, the factory hands him a slip of paper. Eighteen months pass by and he &lsquo;sells&rsquo; the next crop to the same mill. There is still no payment. The farmer takes a loan in anticipation of the ?4 lakh-odd that is owed to him by the sugar mill. Meanwhile, rains fail and groundwater levels drop. He takes another loan to dig a new borewell; the bore also fails. The company still does not pay his dues. His creditors lose patience and he caves into hopelessness.<br /><br />Selvaraj had committed suicide the day before we arrived in Thanjavur as part of a four-day Farmers&rsquo; Rights Yatra or Ulavar Urimai Payanam across seven of the worst drought-hit districts of Tamil Nadu &mdash; Nagapattinam, Thiruvarur, Thanjavur, Perambalur, Ariyalur Karur and Tiruchirappalli. Among the most fertile areas in the country, the Cauvery delta is the rice bowl of the State. The drought in this region, unprecedented in the last 140 years, since 1876 to be precise, got Swaraj Abhiyan to embark on the yatra along with members of civil society from the National Alliance of People&rsquo;s Movement, Ekta Parishad and Alliance for Holistic and Sustainable Agriculture.<br /><br />The statistics are well-known. The rainfall deficit during October to December, the main monsoon months for this region, was 62 per cent. Nearly 87 per cent of the region&rsquo;s farmlands has been affected. Water level in the State reservoirs is down to one-fifth of their capacity. In January, prompted by ground reports of 144 farmers committing suicide, the State declared drought across all 32 districts, with 22 severely hit, and some with rainfall deficit as high as 81 per cent. The worst-affected were Nagapattinam, Thiruvarur and Thanjavur. For instance, in Nagapattinam, 80 per cent of the paddy sown by 1,35,000 farmers didn&rsquo;t flower. The agriculture ministry&rsquo;s sowing data shows that till early February, farmers in Tamil Nadu planted rice in 7.5 lakh hectares, substantially lower than the 12.8 lakh hectares in the previous year. The same month, the Tamil Nadu government sought ?39,565 crore as drought relief from the National Disaster Response Fund.<br /><br />We first encountered some of these farmers at the dharna organised at Jantar Mantar in Delhi. Led by the articulate and charismatic Ayyakanu, these farmers used innovative and shocking techniques to draw the country&rsquo;s attention to their plight, even wearing a garland of skulls they claimed belonged to farmers who had committed suicide. While we took the matter to the Supreme Court, we resolved to visit their home turf to understand their plight better.<br /><br />Cauvery delta is no Bundelkhand, we told ourselves. Over the course of our samvedna yatra to various drought-affected States in 2015 and padyatra in Marathwada and Bundelkhand in 2016, we thought we had seen the worst instances of hunger, malnutrition and cattle famine. After all, the State has not withered away in Tamil Nadu, as it appears to have in many parts of the Hindi heartland. The administrative and social welfare systems are largely in working condition. After the tsunami, the State kicked into a model of disaster relief work. And yet, our motley bunch &mdash; comprising academics, advocates, chartered accountants, activists and a retired corporate honcho &mdash; were in for a few surprises. <br /><br />Please <a href="http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/blink/know/parched-in-tamil-nadus-rice-bowl/article9707120.ece" title="http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/blink/know/parched-in-tamil-nadus-rice-bowl/article9707120.ece">click here</a> to read more. <br /></div>               </font>
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-The Hindu Business Line&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;In the Cauvery delta&amp;rsquo;s worst drought in 140 years, a padyatra brings home the harsh realities of how Tamil farmers are living on the edge and what sustains their resilience&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
A farmer sells his sugar cane to the local public sector sugar mill, where he is mandated to sell his crop. Instead of paying, the factory hands him a slip of paper. Eighteen months pass by and he &amp;lsquo;sells&amp;rsquo; the next crop to the same mill. There is still no payment. The farmer takes a loan in anticipation of the ?4 lakh-odd that is owed to him by the sugar mill. Meanwhile, rains fail and groundwater levels drop. He takes another loan to dig a new borewell; the bore also fails. The company still does not pay his dues. His creditors lose patience and he caves into hopelessness.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Selvaraj had committed suicide the day before we arrived in Thanjavur as part of a four-day Farmers&amp;rsquo; Rights Yatra or Ulavar Urimai Payanam across seven of the worst drought-hit districts of Tamil Nadu &amp;mdash; Nagapattinam, Thiruvarur, Thanjavur, Perambalur, Ariyalur Karur and Tiruchirappalli. Among the most fertile areas in the country, the Cauvery delta is the rice bowl of the State. The drought in this region, unprecedented in the last 140 years, since 1876 to be precise, got Swaraj Abhiyan to embark on the yatra along with members of civil society from the National Alliance of People&amp;rsquo;s Movement, Ekta Parishad and Alliance for Holistic and Sustainable Agriculture.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The statistics are well-known. The rainfall deficit during October to December, the main monsoon months for this region, was 62 per cent. Nearly 87 per cent of the region&amp;rsquo;s farmlands has been affected. Water level in the State reservoirs is down to one-fifth of their capacity. In January, prompted by ground reports of 144 farmers committing suicide, the State declared drought across all 32 districts, with 22 severely hit, and some with rainfall deficit as high as 81 per cent. The worst-affected were Nagapattinam, Thiruvarur and Thanjavur. For instance, in Nagapattinam, 80 per cent of the paddy sown by 1,35,000 farmers didn&amp;rsquo;t flower. The agriculture ministry&amp;rsquo;s sowing data shows that till early February, farmers in Tamil Nadu planted rice in 7.5 lakh hectares, substantially lower than the 12.8 lakh hectares in the previous year. The same month, the Tamil Nadu government sought ?39,565 crore as drought relief from the National Disaster Response Fund.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
We first encountered some of these farmers at the dharna organised at Jantar Mantar in Delhi. Led by the articulate and charismatic Ayyakanu, these farmers used innovative and shocking techniques to draw the country&amp;rsquo;s attention to their plight, even wearing a garland of skulls they claimed belonged to farmers who had committed suicide. While we took the matter to the Supreme Court, we resolved to visit their home turf to understand their plight better.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Cauvery delta is no Bundelkhand, we told ourselves. Over the course of our samvedna yatra to various drought-affected States in 2015 and padyatra in Marathwada and Bundelkhand in 2016, we thought we had seen the worst instances of hunger, malnutrition and cattle famine. After all, the State has not withered away in Tamil Nadu, as it appears to have in many parts of the Hindi heartland. The administrative and social welfare systems are largely in working condition. After the tsunami, the State kicked into a model of disaster relief work. And yet, our motley bunch &amp;mdash; comprising academics, advocates, chartered accountants, activists and a retired corporate honcho &amp;mdash; were in for a few surprises. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/blink/know/parched-in-tamil-nadus-rice-bowl/article9707120.ece&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more. &lt;br /&gt;
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-The Hindu Business Line

In the Cauvery delta&amp;rsquo;s worst drought in 140 years, a padyatra brings home the harsh realities of how Tamil farmers are living on the edge and what sustains their resilience

A farmer sells his sugar cane to the...&#039;,
	&#039;disp&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;-The Hindu Business Line&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;In the Cauvery delta&amp;rsquo;s worst drought in 140 years, a padyatra brings home the harsh realities of how Tamil farmers are living on the edge and what sustains their resilience&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A farmer sells his sugar cane to the local public sector sugar mill, where he is mandated to sell his crop. Instead of paying, the factory hands him a slip of paper. Eighteen months pass by and he &amp;lsquo;sells&amp;rsquo; the next crop to the same mill. There is still no payment. The farmer takes a loan in anticipation of the ?4 lakh-odd that is owed to him by the sugar mill. Meanwhile, rains fail and groundwater levels drop. He takes another loan to dig a new borewell; the bore also fails. The company still does not pay his dues. His creditors lose patience and he caves into hopelessness.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Selvaraj had committed suicide the day before we arrived in Thanjavur as part of a four-day Farmers&amp;rsquo; Rights Yatra or Ulavar Urimai Payanam across seven of the worst drought-hit districts of Tamil Nadu &amp;mdash; Nagapattinam, Thiruvarur, Thanjavur, Perambalur, Ariyalur Karur and Tiruchirappalli. Among the most fertile areas in the country, the Cauvery delta is the rice bowl of the State. The drought in this region, unprecedented in the last 140 years, since 1876 to be precise, got Swaraj Abhiyan to embark on the yatra along with members of civil society from the National Alliance of People&amp;rsquo;s Movement, Ekta Parishad and Alliance for Holistic and Sustainable Agriculture.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The statistics are well-known. The rainfall deficit during October to December, the main monsoon months for this region, was 62 per cent. Nearly 87 per cent of the region&amp;rsquo;s farmlands has been affected. Water level in the State reservoirs is down to one-fifth of their capacity. In January, prompted by ground reports of 144 farmers committing suicide, the State declared drought across all 32 districts, with 22 severely hit, and some with rainfall deficit as high as 81 per cent. The worst-affected were Nagapattinam, Thiruvarur and Thanjavur. For instance, in Nagapattinam, 80 per cent of the paddy sown by 1,35,000 farmers didn&amp;rsquo;t flower. The agriculture ministry&amp;rsquo;s sowing data shows that till early February, farmers in Tamil Nadu planted rice in 7.5 lakh hectares, substantially lower than the 12.8 lakh hectares in the previous year. The same month, the Tamil Nadu government sought ?39,565 crore as drought relief from the National Disaster Response Fund.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We first encountered some of these farmers at the dharna organised at Jantar Mantar in Delhi. Led by the articulate and charismatic Ayyakanu, these farmers used innovative and shocking techniques to draw the country&amp;rsquo;s attention to their plight, even wearing a garland of skulls they claimed belonged to farmers who had committed suicide. While we took the matter to the Supreme Court, we resolved to visit their home turf to understand their plight better.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Cauvery delta is no Bundelkhand, we told ourselves. Over the course of our samvedna yatra to various drought-affected States in 2015 and padyatra in Marathwada and Bundelkhand in 2016, we thought we had seen the worst instances of hunger, malnutrition and cattle famine. After all, the State has not withered away in Tamil Nadu, as it appears to have in many parts of the Hindi heartland. The administrative and social welfare systems are largely in working condition. After the tsunami, the State kicked into a model of disaster relief work. And yet, our motley bunch &amp;mdash; comprising academics, advocates, chartered accountants, activists and a retired corporate honcho &amp;mdash; were in for a few surprises. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/blink/know/parched-in-tamil-nadus-rice-bowl/article9707120.ece&quot; title=&quot;http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/blink/know/parched-in-tamil-nadus-rice-bowl/article9707120.ece&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
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-The Hindu Business Line&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;In the Cauvery delta&amp;rsquo;s worst drought in 140 years, a padyatra brings home the harsh realities of how Tamil farmers are living on the edge and what sustains their resilience&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
A farmer sells his sugar cane to the local public sector sugar mill, where he is mandated to sell his crop. Instead of paying, the factory hands him a slip of paper. Eighteen months pass by and he &amp;lsquo;sells&amp;rsquo; the next crop to the same mill. There is still no payment. The farmer takes a loan in anticipation of the ?4 lakh-odd that is owed to him by the sugar mill. Meanwhile, rains fail and groundwater levels drop. He takes another loan to dig a new borewell; the bore also fails. The company still does not pay his dues. His creditors lose patience and he caves into hopelessness.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Selvaraj had committed suicide the day before we arrived in Thanjavur as part of a four-day Farmers&amp;rsquo; Rights Yatra or Ulavar Urimai Payanam across seven of the worst drought-hit districts of Tamil Nadu &amp;mdash; Nagapattinam, Thiruvarur, Thanjavur, Perambalur, Ariyalur Karur and Tiruchirappalli. Among the most fertile areas in the country, the Cauvery delta is the rice bowl of the State. The drought in this region, unprecedented in the last 140 years, since 1876 to be precise, got Swaraj Abhiyan to embark on the yatra along with members of civil society from the National Alliance of People&amp;rsquo;s Movement, Ekta Parishad and Alliance for Holistic and Sustainable Agriculture.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The statistics are well-known. The rainfall deficit during October to December, the main monsoon months for this region, was 62 per cent. Nearly 87 per cent of the region&amp;rsquo;s farmlands has been affected. Water level in the State reservoirs is down to one-fifth of their capacity. In January, prompted by ground reports of 144 farmers committing suicide, the State declared drought across all 32 districts, with 22 severely hit, and some with rainfall deficit as high as 81 per cent. The worst-affected were Nagapattinam, Thiruvarur and Thanjavur. For instance, in Nagapattinam, 80 per cent of the paddy sown by 1,35,000 farmers didn&amp;rsquo;t flower. The agriculture ministry&amp;rsquo;s sowing data shows that till early February, farmers in Tamil Nadu planted rice in 7.5 lakh hectares, substantially lower than the 12.8 lakh hectares in the previous year. The same month, the Tamil Nadu government sought ?39,565 crore as drought relief from the National Disaster Response Fund.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
We first encountered some of these farmers at the dharna organised at Jantar Mantar in Delhi. Led by the articulate and charismatic Ayyakanu, these farmers used innovative and shocking techniques to draw the country&amp;rsquo;s attention to their plight, even wearing a garland of skulls they claimed belonged to farmers who had committed suicide. While we took the matter to the Supreme Court, we resolved to visit their home turf to understand their plight better.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Cauvery delta is no Bundelkhand, we told ourselves. Over the course of our samvedna yatra to various drought-affected States in 2015 and padyatra in Marathwada and Bundelkhand in 2016, we thought we had seen the worst instances of hunger, malnutrition and cattle famine. After all, the State has not withered away in Tamil Nadu, as it appears to have in many parts of the Hindi heartland. The administrative and social welfare systems are largely in working condition. After the tsunami, the State kicked into a model of disaster relief work. And yet, our motley bunch &amp;mdash; comprising academics, advocates, chartered accountants, activists and a retired corporate honcho &amp;mdash; were in for a few surprises. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/blink/know/parched-in-tamil-nadus-rice-bowl/article9707120.ece&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
	&#039;credit_writer&#039; =&gt; &#039;The Hindu Business Line, 19 May, 2017, http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/blink/know/parched-in-tamil-nadus-rice-bowl/article9707120.ece&#039;,
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-The Hindu Business Line

In the Cauvery delta&amp;rsquo;s worst drought in 140 years, a padyatra brings home the harsh realities of how Tamil farmers are living on the edge and what sustains their resilience

A farmer sells his sugar cane to the...&#039;
$disp = &#039;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;-The Hindu Business Line&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;In the Cauvery delta&amp;rsquo;s worst drought in 140 years, a padyatra brings home the harsh realities of how Tamil farmers are living on the edge and what sustains their resilience&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A farmer sells his sugar cane to the local public sector sugar mill, where he is mandated to sell his crop. Instead of paying, the factory hands him a slip of paper. Eighteen months pass by and he &amp;lsquo;sells&amp;rsquo; the next crop to the same mill. There is still no payment. The farmer takes a loan in anticipation of the ?4 lakh-odd that is owed to him by the sugar mill. Meanwhile, rains fail and groundwater levels drop. He takes another loan to dig a new borewell; the bore also fails. The company still does not pay his dues. His creditors lose patience and he caves into hopelessness.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Selvaraj had committed suicide the day before we arrived in Thanjavur as part of a four-day Farmers&amp;rsquo; Rights Yatra or Ulavar Urimai Payanam across seven of the worst drought-hit districts of Tamil Nadu &amp;mdash; Nagapattinam, Thiruvarur, Thanjavur, Perambalur, Ariyalur Karur and Tiruchirappalli. Among the most fertile areas in the country, the Cauvery delta is the rice bowl of the State. The drought in this region, unprecedented in the last 140 years, since 1876 to be precise, got Swaraj Abhiyan to embark on the yatra along with members of civil society from the National Alliance of People&amp;rsquo;s Movement, Ekta Parishad and Alliance for Holistic and Sustainable Agriculture.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The statistics are well-known. The rainfall deficit during October to December, the main monsoon months for this region, was 62 per cent. Nearly 87 per cent of the region&amp;rsquo;s farmlands has been affected. Water level in the State reservoirs is down to one-fifth of their capacity. In January, prompted by ground reports of 144 farmers committing suicide, the State declared drought across all 32 districts, with 22 severely hit, and some with rainfall deficit as high as 81 per cent. The worst-affected were Nagapattinam, Thiruvarur and Thanjavur. For instance, in Nagapattinam, 80 per cent of the paddy sown by 1,35,000 farmers didn&amp;rsquo;t flower. The agriculture ministry&amp;rsquo;s sowing data shows that till early February, farmers in Tamil Nadu planted rice in 7.5 lakh hectares, substantially lower than the 12.8 lakh hectares in the previous year. The same month, the Tamil Nadu government sought ?39,565 crore as drought relief from the National Disaster Response Fund.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We first encountered some of these farmers at the dharna organised at Jantar Mantar in Delhi. Led by the articulate and charismatic Ayyakanu, these farmers used innovative and shocking techniques to draw the country&amp;rsquo;s attention to their plight, even wearing a garland of skulls they claimed belonged to farmers who had committed suicide. While we took the matter to the Supreme Court, we resolved to visit their home turf to understand their plight better.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Cauvery delta is no Bundelkhand, we told ourselves. Over the course of our samvedna yatra to various drought-affected States in 2015 and padyatra in Marathwada and Bundelkhand in 2016, we thought we had seen the worst instances of hunger, malnutrition and cattle famine. After all, the State has not withered away in Tamil Nadu, as it appears to have in many parts of the Hindi heartland. The administrative and social welfare systems are largely in working condition. After the tsunami, the State kicked into a model of disaster relief work. And yet, our motley bunch &amp;mdash; comprising academics, advocates, chartered accountants, activists and a retired corporate honcho &amp;mdash; were in for a few surprises. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/blink/know/parched-in-tamil-nadus-rice-bowl/article9707120.ece&quot; title=&quot;http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/blink/know/parched-in-tamil-nadus-rice-bowl/article9707120.ece&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&#039;
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-The Hindu Business Line

In the Cauvery delta&rsquo;s worst drought in 140 years, a padyatra brings home the harsh realities of how Tamil farmers are living on the edge and what sustains their resilience

A farmer sells his sugar cane to the..."/>
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                <strong>Parched in Tamil Nadu&#039;s rice bowl -Avik Saha &amp; Yogendra Yadav</strong></h1>
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                <div align="justify">-The Hindu Business Line<br /><br /><em>In the Cauvery delta&rsquo;s worst drought in 140 years, a padyatra brings home the harsh realities of how Tamil farmers are living on the edge and what sustains their resilience<br /></em><br />A farmer sells his sugar cane to the local public sector sugar mill, where he is mandated to sell his crop. Instead of paying, the factory hands him a slip of paper. Eighteen months pass by and he &lsquo;sells&rsquo; the next crop to the same mill. There is still no payment. The farmer takes a loan in anticipation of the ?4 lakh-odd that is owed to him by the sugar mill. Meanwhile, rains fail and groundwater levels drop. He takes another loan to dig a new borewell; the bore also fails. The company still does not pay his dues. His creditors lose patience and he caves into hopelessness.<br /><br />Selvaraj had committed suicide the day before we arrived in Thanjavur as part of a four-day Farmers&rsquo; Rights Yatra or Ulavar Urimai Payanam across seven of the worst drought-hit districts of Tamil Nadu &mdash; Nagapattinam, Thiruvarur, Thanjavur, Perambalur, Ariyalur Karur and Tiruchirappalli. Among the most fertile areas in the country, the Cauvery delta is the rice bowl of the State. The drought in this region, unprecedented in the last 140 years, since 1876 to be precise, got Swaraj Abhiyan to embark on the yatra along with members of civil society from the National Alliance of People&rsquo;s Movement, Ekta Parishad and Alliance for Holistic and Sustainable Agriculture.<br /><br />The statistics are well-known. The rainfall deficit during October to December, the main monsoon months for this region, was 62 per cent. Nearly 87 per cent of the region&rsquo;s farmlands has been affected. Water level in the State reservoirs is down to one-fifth of their capacity. In January, prompted by ground reports of 144 farmers committing suicide, the State declared drought across all 32 districts, with 22 severely hit, and some with rainfall deficit as high as 81 per cent. The worst-affected were Nagapattinam, Thiruvarur and Thanjavur. For instance, in Nagapattinam, 80 per cent of the paddy sown by 1,35,000 farmers didn&rsquo;t flower. The agriculture ministry&rsquo;s sowing data shows that till early February, farmers in Tamil Nadu planted rice in 7.5 lakh hectares, substantially lower than the 12.8 lakh hectares in the previous year. The same month, the Tamil Nadu government sought ?39,565 crore as drought relief from the National Disaster Response Fund.<br /><br />We first encountered some of these farmers at the dharna organised at Jantar Mantar in Delhi. Led by the articulate and charismatic Ayyakanu, these farmers used innovative and shocking techniques to draw the country&rsquo;s attention to their plight, even wearing a garland of skulls they claimed belonged to farmers who had committed suicide. While we took the matter to the Supreme Court, we resolved to visit their home turf to understand their plight better.<br /><br />Cauvery delta is no Bundelkhand, we told ourselves. Over the course of our samvedna yatra to various drought-affected States in 2015 and padyatra in Marathwada and Bundelkhand in 2016, we thought we had seen the worst instances of hunger, malnutrition and cattle famine. After all, the State has not withered away in Tamil Nadu, as it appears to have in many parts of the Hindi heartland. The administrative and social welfare systems are largely in working condition. After the tsunami, the State kicked into a model of disaster relief work. And yet, our motley bunch &mdash; comprising academics, advocates, chartered accountants, activists and a retired corporate honcho &mdash; were in for a few surprises. <br /><br />Please <a href="http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/blink/know/parched-in-tamil-nadus-rice-bowl/article9707120.ece" title="http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/blink/know/parched-in-tamil-nadus-rice-bowl/article9707120.ece">click here</a> to read more. <br /></div>               </font>
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-The Hindu Business Line<br />
<br />
<em>In the Cauvery delta&rsquo;s worst drought in 140 years, a padyatra brings home the harsh realities of how Tamil farmers are living on the edge and what sustains their resilience<br />
</em><br />
A farmer sells his sugar cane to the local public sector sugar mill, where he is mandated to sell his crop. Instead of paying, the factory hands him a slip of paper. Eighteen months pass by and he &lsquo;sells&rsquo; the next crop to the same mill. There is still no payment. The farmer takes a loan in anticipation of the ?4 lakh-odd that is owed to him by the sugar mill. Meanwhile, rains fail and groundwater levels drop. He takes another loan to dig a new borewell; the bore also fails. The company still does not pay his dues. His creditors lose patience and he caves into hopelessness.<br />
<br />
Selvaraj had committed suicide the day before we arrived in Thanjavur as part of a four-day Farmers&rsquo; Rights Yatra or Ulavar Urimai Payanam across seven of the worst drought-hit districts of Tamil Nadu &mdash; Nagapattinam, Thiruvarur, Thanjavur, Perambalur, Ariyalur Karur and Tiruchirappalli. Among the most fertile areas in the country, the Cauvery delta is the rice bowl of the State. The drought in this region, unprecedented in the last 140 years, since 1876 to be precise, got Swaraj Abhiyan to embark on the yatra along with members of civil society from the National Alliance of People&rsquo;s Movement, Ekta Parishad and Alliance for Holistic and Sustainable Agriculture.<br />
<br />
The statistics are well-known. The rainfall deficit during October to December, the main monsoon months for this region, was 62 per cent. Nearly 87 per cent of the region&rsquo;s farmlands has been affected. Water level in the State reservoirs is down to one-fifth of their capacity. In January, prompted by ground reports of 144 farmers committing suicide, the State declared drought across all 32 districts, with 22 severely hit, and some with rainfall deficit as high as 81 per cent. The worst-affected were Nagapattinam, Thiruvarur and Thanjavur. For instance, in Nagapattinam, 80 per cent of the paddy sown by 1,35,000 farmers didn&rsquo;t flower. The agriculture ministry&rsquo;s sowing data shows that till early February, farmers in Tamil Nadu planted rice in 7.5 lakh hectares, substantially lower than the 12.8 lakh hectares in the previous year. The same month, the Tamil Nadu government sought ?39,565 crore as drought relief from the National Disaster Response Fund.<br />
<br />
We first encountered some of these farmers at the dharna organised at Jantar Mantar in Delhi. Led by the articulate and charismatic Ayyakanu, these farmers used innovative and shocking techniques to draw the country&rsquo;s attention to their plight, even wearing a garland of skulls they claimed belonged to farmers who had committed suicide. While we took the matter to the Supreme Court, we resolved to visit their home turf to understand their plight better.<br />
<br />
Cauvery delta is no Bundelkhand, we told ourselves. Over the course of our samvedna yatra to various drought-affected States in 2015 and padyatra in Marathwada and Bundelkhand in 2016, we thought we had seen the worst instances of hunger, malnutrition and cattle famine. After all, the State has not withered away in Tamil Nadu, as it appears to have in many parts of the Hindi heartland. The administrative and social welfare systems are largely in working condition. After the tsunami, the State kicked into a model of disaster relief work. And yet, our motley bunch &mdash; comprising academics, advocates, chartered accountants, activists and a retired corporate honcho &mdash; were in for a few surprises. <br />
<br />
Please <a href="http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/blink/know/parched-in-tamil-nadus-rice-bowl/article9707120.ece">click here</a> to read more. <br />
</div>',
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-The Hindu Business Line

In the Cauvery delta&rsquo;s worst drought in 140 years, a padyatra brings home the harsh realities of how Tamil farmers are living on the edge and what sustains their resilience

A farmer sells his sugar cane to the...',
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-The Hindu Business Line<br />
<br />
<em>In the Cauvery delta&rsquo;s worst drought in 140 years, a padyatra brings home the harsh realities of how Tamil farmers are living on the edge and what sustains their resilience<br />
</em><br />
A farmer sells his sugar cane to the local public sector sugar mill, where he is mandated to sell his crop. Instead of paying, the factory hands him a slip of paper. Eighteen months pass by and he &lsquo;sells&rsquo; the next crop to the same mill. There is still no payment. The farmer takes a loan in anticipation of the ?4 lakh-odd that is owed to him by the sugar mill. Meanwhile, rains fail and groundwater levels drop. He takes another loan to dig a new borewell; the bore also fails. The company still does not pay his dues. His creditors lose patience and he caves into hopelessness.<br />
<br />
Selvaraj had committed suicide the day before we arrived in Thanjavur as part of a four-day Farmers&rsquo; Rights Yatra or Ulavar Urimai Payanam across seven of the worst drought-hit districts of Tamil Nadu &mdash; Nagapattinam, Thiruvarur, Thanjavur, Perambalur, Ariyalur Karur and Tiruchirappalli. Among the most fertile areas in the country, the Cauvery delta is the rice bowl of the State. The drought in this region, unprecedented in the last 140 years, since 1876 to be precise, got Swaraj Abhiyan to embark on the yatra along with members of civil society from the National Alliance of People&rsquo;s Movement, Ekta Parishad and Alliance for Holistic and Sustainable Agriculture.<br />
<br />
The statistics are well-known. The rainfall deficit during October to December, the main monsoon months for this region, was 62 per cent. Nearly 87 per cent of the region&rsquo;s farmlands has been affected. Water level in the State reservoirs is down to one-fifth of their capacity. In January, prompted by ground reports of 144 farmers committing suicide, the State declared drought across all 32 districts, with 22 severely hit, and some with rainfall deficit as high as 81 per cent. The worst-affected were Nagapattinam, Thiruvarur and Thanjavur. For instance, in Nagapattinam, 80 per cent of the paddy sown by 1,35,000 farmers didn&rsquo;t flower. The agriculture ministry&rsquo;s sowing data shows that till early February, farmers in Tamil Nadu planted rice in 7.5 lakh hectares, substantially lower than the 12.8 lakh hectares in the previous year. The same month, the Tamil Nadu government sought ?39,565 crore as drought relief from the National Disaster Response Fund.<br />
<br />
We first encountered some of these farmers at the dharna organised at Jantar Mantar in Delhi. Led by the articulate and charismatic Ayyakanu, these farmers used innovative and shocking techniques to draw the country&rsquo;s attention to their plight, even wearing a garland of skulls they claimed belonged to farmers who had committed suicide. While we took the matter to the Supreme Court, we resolved to visit their home turf to understand their plight better.<br />
<br />
Cauvery delta is no Bundelkhand, we told ourselves. Over the course of our samvedna yatra to various drought-affected States in 2015 and padyatra in Marathwada and Bundelkhand in 2016, we thought we had seen the worst instances of hunger, malnutrition and cattle famine. After all, the State has not withered away in Tamil Nadu, as it appears to have in many parts of the Hindi heartland. The administrative and social welfare systems are largely in working condition. After the tsunami, the State kicked into a model of disaster relief work. And yet, our motley bunch &mdash; comprising academics, advocates, chartered accountants, activists and a retired corporate honcho &mdash; were in for a few surprises. <br />
<br />
Please <a href="http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/blink/know/parched-in-tamil-nadus-rice-bowl/article9707120.ece">click here</a> to read more. <br />
</div>',
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-The Hindu Business Line

In the Cauvery delta&rsquo;s worst drought in 140 years, a padyatra brings home the harsh realities of how Tamil farmers are living on the edge and what sustains their resilience

A farmer sells his sugar cane to the...'
$disp = '<div align="justify">-The Hindu Business Line<br /><br /><em>In the Cauvery delta&rsquo;s worst drought in 140 years, a padyatra brings home the harsh realities of how Tamil farmers are living on the edge and what sustains their resilience<br /></em><br />A farmer sells his sugar cane to the local public sector sugar mill, where he is mandated to sell his crop. Instead of paying, the factory hands him a slip of paper. Eighteen months pass by and he &lsquo;sells&rsquo; the next crop to the same mill. There is still no payment. The farmer takes a loan in anticipation of the ?4 lakh-odd that is owed to him by the sugar mill. Meanwhile, rains fail and groundwater levels drop. He takes another loan to dig a new borewell; the bore also fails. The company still does not pay his dues. His creditors lose patience and he caves into hopelessness.<br /><br />Selvaraj had committed suicide the day before we arrived in Thanjavur as part of a four-day Farmers&rsquo; Rights Yatra or Ulavar Urimai Payanam across seven of the worst drought-hit districts of Tamil Nadu &mdash; Nagapattinam, Thiruvarur, Thanjavur, Perambalur, Ariyalur Karur and Tiruchirappalli. Among the most fertile areas in the country, the Cauvery delta is the rice bowl of the State. The drought in this region, unprecedented in the last 140 years, since 1876 to be precise, got Swaraj Abhiyan to embark on the yatra along with members of civil society from the National Alliance of People&rsquo;s Movement, Ekta Parishad and Alliance for Holistic and Sustainable Agriculture.<br /><br />The statistics are well-known. The rainfall deficit during October to December, the main monsoon months for this region, was 62 per cent. Nearly 87 per cent of the region&rsquo;s farmlands has been affected. Water level in the State reservoirs is down to one-fifth of their capacity. In January, prompted by ground reports of 144 farmers committing suicide, the State declared drought across all 32 districts, with 22 severely hit, and some with rainfall deficit as high as 81 per cent. The worst-affected were Nagapattinam, Thiruvarur and Thanjavur. For instance, in Nagapattinam, 80 per cent of the paddy sown by 1,35,000 farmers didn&rsquo;t flower. The agriculture ministry&rsquo;s sowing data shows that till early February, farmers in Tamil Nadu planted rice in 7.5 lakh hectares, substantially lower than the 12.8 lakh hectares in the previous year. The same month, the Tamil Nadu government sought ?39,565 crore as drought relief from the National Disaster Response Fund.<br /><br />We first encountered some of these farmers at the dharna organised at Jantar Mantar in Delhi. Led by the articulate and charismatic Ayyakanu, these farmers used innovative and shocking techniques to draw the country&rsquo;s attention to their plight, even wearing a garland of skulls they claimed belonged to farmers who had committed suicide. While we took the matter to the Supreme Court, we resolved to visit their home turf to understand their plight better.<br /><br />Cauvery delta is no Bundelkhand, we told ourselves. Over the course of our samvedna yatra to various drought-affected States in 2015 and padyatra in Marathwada and Bundelkhand in 2016, we thought we had seen the worst instances of hunger, malnutrition and cattle famine. After all, the State has not withered away in Tamil Nadu, as it appears to have in many parts of the Hindi heartland. The administrative and social welfare systems are largely in working condition. After the tsunami, the State kicked into a model of disaster relief work. And yet, our motley bunch &mdash; comprising academics, advocates, chartered accountants, activists and a retired corporate honcho &mdash; were in for a few surprises. <br /><br />Please <a href="http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/blink/know/parched-in-tamil-nadus-rice-bowl/article9707120.ece" title="http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/blink/know/parched-in-tamil-nadus-rice-bowl/article9707120.ece">click here</a> to read more. <br /></div>'
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Parched in Tamil Nadu's rice bowl -Avik Saha & Yogendra Yadav

-The Hindu Business Line In the Cauvery delta’s worst drought in 140 years, a padyatra brings home the harsh realities of how Tamil farmers are living on the edge and what sustains their resilience A farmer sells his sugar cane to the local public sector sugar mill, where he is mandated to sell his crop. Instead of paying, the factory hands him a slip of paper. Eighteen months pass by and he ‘sells’ the next crop to the same mill. There is still no payment. The farmer takes a loan in anticipation of the ?4 lakh-odd that is owed to him by the sugar mill. Meanwhile, rains fail and groundwater levels drop. He takes another loan to dig a new borewell; the bore also fails. The company still does not pay his dues. His creditors lose patience and he caves into hopelessness. Selvaraj had committed suicide the day before we arrived in Thanjavur as part of a four-day Farmers’ Rights Yatra or Ulavar Urimai Payanam across seven of the worst drought-hit districts of Tamil Nadu — Nagapattinam, Thiruvarur, Thanjavur, Perambalur, Ariyalur Karur and Tiruchirappalli. Among the most fertile areas in the country, the Cauvery delta is the rice bowl of the State. The drought in this region, unprecedented in the last 140 years, since 1876 to be precise, got Swaraj Abhiyan to embark on the yatra along with members of civil society from the National Alliance of People’s Movement, Ekta Parishad and Alliance for Holistic and Sustainable Agriculture. The statistics are well-known. The rainfall deficit during October to December, the main monsoon months for this region, was 62 per cent. Nearly 87 per cent of the region’s farmlands has been affected. Water level in the State reservoirs is down to one-fifth of their capacity. In January, prompted by ground reports of 144 farmers committing suicide, the State declared drought across all 32 districts, with 22 severely hit, and some with rainfall deficit as high as 81 per cent. The worst-affected were Nagapattinam, Thiruvarur and Thanjavur. For instance, in Nagapattinam, 80 per cent of the paddy sown by 1,35,000 farmers didn’t flower. The agriculture ministry’s sowing data shows that till early February, farmers in Tamil Nadu planted rice in 7.5 lakh hectares, substantially lower than the 12.8 lakh hectares in the previous year. The same month, the Tamil Nadu government sought ?39,565 crore as drought relief from the National Disaster Response Fund. We first encountered some of these farmers at the dharna organised at Jantar Mantar in Delhi. Led by the articulate and charismatic Ayyakanu, these farmers used innovative and shocking techniques to draw the country’s attention to their plight, even wearing a garland of skulls they claimed belonged to farmers who had committed suicide. While we took the matter to the Supreme Court, we resolved to visit their home turf to understand their plight better. Cauvery delta is no Bundelkhand, we told ourselves. Over the course of our samvedna yatra to various drought-affected States in 2015 and padyatra in Marathwada and Bundelkhand in 2016, we thought we had seen the worst instances of hunger, malnutrition and cattle famine. After all, the State has not withered away in Tamil Nadu, as it appears to have in many parts of the Hindi heartland. The administrative and social welfare systems are largely in working condition. After the tsunami, the State kicked into a model of disaster relief work. And yet, our motley bunch — comprising academics, advocates, chartered accountants, activists and a retired corporate honcho — were in for a few surprises. Please click here to read more.