ALAPPUZHA/PALAKKAD: Onam is celebrated as a harbinger of peace and prosperity in Kerala. But this year, gloom prevails in the agriculture sector with farmers caught in a vicious cycle of debt, crop failure and penury.
It has been five months since Supplyco procured paddy from farmers. Yet, around 40,000 marginal farmers are yet to receive payments. Most farmers avail loans from banks for cultivation and repay them after selling their yield. However, payment delays land them in a debt trap. They are forced to avail more loans for the next crop, with floods or a weak monsoon further threatening to devastate their lives.
Civil Supplies Minister G R Anil informed the assembly on August 10 that Rs 433 crore is due to paddy farmers in the state. He said paddy worth Rs 2,070.71 crore was procured and Rs 1,637.73 crore has been disbursed as on July 31. But the hard fact is that 31,734 farmers in Palakkad are yet to receive the price of the crop procured five months ago. While payment due in Palakkad district is Rs 193.03 crore, around 10,300 farmers in Alappuzha are waiting for Rs 79.8 crore.
“Our livelihoods are reliant on the vagaries of nature. Often, floods destroy the crop and sometimes the crop wilts due to monsoon failure. Paddy cultivation is labour-intensive and increases in labour charges and input costs add to our burden. Being a graduate, my desire was to secure a government job and settle down. But as a son of Kuttanad, I had a passion for agriculture. We cultivate paddy on our six-acre field at Vettikkari polder of Punnapra panchayat,” says Mahesh George, 50, of Mappilasseril in Champakulam, Alappuzha.
“Supplyco had procured paddy worth Rs 6 lakh in May and I am still awaiting the payment. We need around Rs 75,000 per acre of paddy. I had availed a loan of Rs 4.5 lakh by pledging my wife’s ornaments. As the payment was delayed, I had to approach private lenders for money for the next crop in June. I had to replant the seedlings as the polder was destroyed in July following heavy rain,” he said. There are over 150 farmers cultivating paddy in the Vettikkari polder, spread over 500 acres. They are planning to move the High Court seeking timely payment from Supplyco. “We will get subsidies only if the loan amount is repaid on time. A delay in repayment will lead to an increase in bank interests and loss of subsidy. We must also pay the suppliers of manure and pesticide,” lamented Thomas Kutty, former president of Vettikkari Padasekhra Samithi.
The plight of farmers who take fields on lease is more despairing as they have to pay the lease amount in time apart from meeting the input cost. “I cultivate three acres of paddy field which I have taken on lease. Supplyco had procured 4,030kg of paddy from my field five months ago and handed me a procurement receipt for Rs 1,18,000. I am yet to receive the payment,” said Mohandas of Kannankulangara padashekharam in Mathur panchayat.
In June, Mohandas took 6.5 acres on lease hoping for a better yield. However, the monsoon failed and he landed in a debt trap. “I have availed loans from banks and private financiers. But with the weak monsoon, fields are drying up fast. Though I replanted the seedlings, I have no money to purchase fertilisers and employ workers to remove weeds. If the crop fails, I will lose my entire investment,” he said.
While other farmers are lamenting the delay in payment, V Sasi of Chullimada, a marginal farmer, has a different tale to share. It is the decision of Supplyco to distribute the paddy procurement price through a consortium of banks that landed Sasi in trouble. “Last year, I received payment for the second crop before Vishu. However, this time the payment was delayed till August. I cultivate paddy on 80 cents of land and Supplyco had given me a paddy receipt sheet for Rs 49,900. Though the amount was recently transferred to my SBI account, the bank has withheld the payment seeking closure of the Mudra loan taken by my wife Manju. She had availed a Mudra loan of Rs 35,500 from SBI Kanjikode branch to start a tailoring unit and we have repaid Rs 20,000 already. I am a contract worker earning Rs 12,000 per month. Though I urged the bank to deduct the amount from my salary in instalments they are unwilling to accept my offer,” said Sasi.
The departments of finance and CPI, which handles civil supplies, are blaming each other as distress spreads in the farming sector.
The Kerala Karshaka Sangam, the farmers’ wing of CPM, blames Supplyco for sidelining Kerala Bank and entering into an agreement with a consortium of banks for disbursal of paddy procurement price. However, All India Kisan Sabha, the farmers’ wing of CPI, alleges that the finance department is delaying the release of funds. Supplyco should reach an agreement with the banks before the beginning of the harvesting season to ensure timely payment to farmers, said Desiya Karshaka Samajam district president Muthalamthode Mani.
Supplyco procures paddy at Rs 28.20 per kg of which Rs 20.40 is the share of the Union government and Rs 7.80 is the incentive provided by the state. This year, the Centre increased the minimum support price (MSP) by Rs 1.43 per kg which will be available for the first crop of 2023.
“This is the first time that payments for paddy procurement have been delayed. The state has the highest farm wages and production costs in the country. The government should understand that paddy cultivation in Kerala is sustenance farming and not commercial in nature,” said Pandiyode Prabhakaran, general secretary of the National Farmers Protection Committee.