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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Waterlogging pushes Haryana farmers to sell agricultural land, take up odd jobs -Sat Singh

Waterlogging pushes Haryana farmers to sell agricultural land, take up odd jobs -Sat Singh

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published Published on Apr 27, 2022   modified Modified on Apr 29, 2022

-Mongabay.com

- Perennial waterlogging in agricultural fields of Charkhi Dadri is making them uncultivable. Farmers are adopting alternate occupations or taking land on lease in other villages to continue farming.

- While groundwater scarcity is a problem in many parts of North India, some 319 villages in Haryana have the opposite issue of waterlogging because of high groundwater levels.

- Government interventions, saline water draining attempts and subsidies for crop diversification, along with temporary bans on cultivation are seen as possible solutions to the issue in Charki-Dadri.

Sonu Kalkal, a farmer living in Imlota village in Charkhi Dadri district of Haryana, used to cultivate his own land and harvest bumper crops. The 42-year-old has now turned landless. The stagnation of excess water and a high rise in water table in the agriculture fields have turned the once fertile lands into sandy ruins, forcing Kalkal and many farmers in this part of the north Indian state, to sell off their agricultural lands.

“I could not take it anymore. I was under a debt running in lakhs and the compounding interest on it was killing me. The agricultural land, which once used to spin gold, had turned into a liability for me,” said the worried Kalkal, who had to sell off five acres of his land. “It has been one-and-half decades. As the water table was rising, the financial wealth of farmers in the cluster was falling at the same pace,” said the father of four.

The residents of the village, whose main occupation was farming before the waterlogging situation, now work as motorcycle mechanics, small-time shopkeepers or labourers in factories at Gurugram.

Manoj Kalkal, a graduate from Dadri’s Janta Degree College, said that out of 1,700 acres of agriculture land, 1,200 acres were left without sowing this season. People like him, whose only livelihood skill is farming, have taken land on lease in other villages and practice farming there. “Despite having our own land which is under water, we are forced to run pillar to post for survival,” he said.

Manish Kumar, another resident of Imlota exposed another social issue. He said that the constant waterlogging in the fields has not only turned the lands infertile, but has also impacted matrimonial alliances for the men of Imlota. “Every household in my village has a boy, who is of marriageable age but is rejected by the brides as he is deemed unsuitable. In Haryana, for finding a suitable bride, the prerequisite is either a government job or an agricultural land,” Kumar said. Although they have the latter, it has been of no use for the last 15 years.

Survey shows annual increase in waterlogging

According to the Charkhi Dadri district agriculture department’s survey of waterlogged and saline areas in villages in the district, from 2017 to 2022, of the total 79,595 acres of agricultural land, 9,190 acres were found to be waterlogged in 2017. This number increased each year. In 2018, the waterlogged area increased to 9,540 acres and in 2019, it increased to 9,840 acres. In 2020 it remained steady at 9,840 acres. However, in 2021, the number of acres under waterlogging has increased to 10,490 acres in the district.

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Mongabay.com, 27 April, 2022, https://india.mongabay.com/2022/04/waterlogging-pushes-haryana-farmers-to-sell-agricultural-land-take-up-odd-jobs/


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