People of Jillella Budugula village in Devanakonda mandal of Kurnool district, who used to migrate to big cities for work every year owing to drought in their region, have decided to stay put this year. Anywhere between 200 to 300 people migrate from this village of around 500 houses to support their family and for the better future of their children. The main reason they decided against the seasonal migration is coronavirus. The other reasons are there are good rains this year and they have money in hand to invest in the crops, courtesy government schemes. “Drought hit our lives hard for the past 10 years. If it rains, it rains heavily and there was no scope for steady income for the farmers, given the situation.
Now, things look somewhat encouraging and came as a relief at a time we are worried over the impact of coronavirus,” says Laxmayya of Jillella Budgula. Laxmayya owns five acres of land, but due to unfavorable conditions in the past one decade, he along with his wife has been going to Guntur to work as farmhands. Now, with good rains, the situation looks promising for agriculture. He cultivated groundnut, cotton, red gram, pearl millet and tomato.
“Other people in the village have also started cultivation of various crops and with the government lending a helping hand in time, we all could cultivate not just crops, but our hopes. We normally migrate around Dasara, but this year, we have decided not to go. We do not want to take risk and decided to stay put and face loss or gain with others in the village itself,” he explains. Ramanjaneyulu from Doddimekala village of Peddakaburu mandal says they have lost interest in migration.
“When our lives itself are in danger, why should we go? Whatever there is in store for us in future, we decided to face it. My family will stay in the village. Further, things here look encouraging,” he expresses hope. He took up cultivation of groundnut in his three acres of land. H Devadasu from Sajjalaguddam in Kosigi mandal of Kurnool says he was badly shaken by the bitter experience he faced during lockdown. “Loss or gain, I decided to stay put in my village and cultivate in my one acre land,” he said. From Kurnool alone, nearly one lakh people have migrated to other parts for a livelihood, as evident from the return of migrants to the district during the lockdown period.
Most of them are not ready to leave their village and risk their lives. Kurnool Joint Director (Agriculture) Uma Maheswaramma said cultivation was taken up in 6.22 lakh hectares and there will not have dearth of farmhands now. The situation is no different in the neighbouring Anantapur district, which also witnesses seasonal migration of farmers and farmhands in search of a livelihood. Having faced the bitter experience of COVID-induced lockdown and fear for their lives, many are unwilling to leave their villages anymore. Balakrishna, who owns four acres of land in his Nuthimadugu village of Kambaduru mandal, used to do odd jobs and business in Bangalore from time to time to support his family of five. He has three daughters.
“The corona crisis has taught me one thing. It is better to stay with your family and in your village, be it good or bad. All said and done, we have only one life. Fortunately, this year, rain looks encouraging and even if the situation worsens, there is Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. (MGNREGS). Hence I decided to stay put in the village,” he reasons. When the situation in the home is good and the work is available, where the question of leaving family and migrating to somewhere else, asks Nagabhushanam of Peddamatlagoind in Singanamala mandal. He used to go as a building worker, whenever crops failed him. He owns four acres of land.
According to district joint director (Agriculture) Habeeb Basha, with rains looking encouraging, the extent of cultivable land has increased to 6 lakh hectares from the normal 5 lakh hectares. “By this time, 70,000 people migrate from their villages and now due to the corona crisis, all of them are staying in their villages, hence it is not only an increase in the extent of cultivable land, but also the manpower,” he said. The situation is no different in Prakasam district, one of the backward districts in the State.
T Subrahmanyswara Rao of Pallamalli village in Chimakurthy mandal, who usually migrates to Vikarabad and Tandur near Hyderabad to work as a mason with his brothers, decided to take care of their three acres of land and grow vegetables with an expected income of `3 lakh. Narayana Rao of CS Puram, who has no land on his own and migrates every year to work as a building construction worker with his five brothers, now decided to start a brick kiln in his village to eke out a living. There are many others who have similar tales to tell. (With inputs from K Madhu Sudhakar, CP Venugopal, IVNP Prasad Babu).