HYDERABAD: Escalating land lease rates, rising cultivation costs and limited access to government support systems are pushing Telangana’s tenant farmers into a deepening financial crisis. According to a statewide survey covering 1,816 tenant farmers across 57 villages in 22 districts, lease rents have surged in recent years, reaching as high as Rs 53,000 per acre in some regions. The average lease rate now stands at Rs 14,936 per acre, while farmers in parts of Kamareddy district reported paying between Rs 45,000 and Rs 60,000 per acre for irrigated land.
The study, conducted by the Telangana Kaulu Raitula Gurtimpu Sadhana Committee, found that shrinking farm incomes are forcing cultivators to lease larger tracts of land in an attempt to make agriculture economically viable. The average leased area increased to 6.7 acres from 5 acres in 2022. While 31% of tenants leased more than five acres in 2022, the figure has now risen to 42%, including 15.2% who lease over 10 acres.
The report noted that most tenant farmers belong to Backward Classes (47.2%), Scheduled Castes (26.9%) and Scheduled Tribes (13.9%) and often rely on private borrowings to meet cultivation expenses. With little access to institutional crop loans, many are dependent on moneylenders, traders and input dealers, paying interest rates ranging between 24% and 36% annually. The average debt burden among surveyed farmers was estimated at around Rs 2 lakh per household.
Farmers purchase fertilisers at twice the subsidised price
Only 22.8% of those surveyed managed to obtain subsidised urea during the recent Rabi season, largely because the new app-based distribution system requires landowner verification through OTP authentication. Many farmers reported purchasing fertilisers from the open market at nearly double the subsidised price. The situation is expected to worsen during the Kharif season, when demand for urea rises sharply.
The survey also found that access to government procurement systems remains limited. Only 6.7% of cotton-growing tenant farmers were able to sell their produce directly to the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) under their own names. Among paddy growers, only 20% during Kharif and 17.2% during Rabi were able to sell their produce as recognised tenant farmers and receive payments directly into their bank accounts.
Cultivators forced to sell produce below MSP
As a result, many cultivators were forced to sell their produce in private markets below the Minimum Support Price (MSP). Cotton farmers sold their crop at an average price of Rs 6,500 per quintal against the MSP of Rs 8,110, resulting in losses exceeding Rs 64,000 for a typical five-acre farmer. Similar losses were recorded in paddy (Rs 40,350), maize (Rs 87,800) and soybean (Rs 53,120).
The report further revealed that 85.2% of surveyed tenant farmers suffered crop losses due to floods, heavy rains or hailstorms over the past three years. Yet only 11 farmers (0.7%) received compensation directly into their accounts. Several cases were reported in which compensation was credited to landowners and never passed on to the cultivators who incurred the losses.
A major concern highlighted by the survey is the continued non-implementation of the 2011 Land Licensed Cultivators Act. More than 92% of respondents said they had never received a Loan Eligibility Card (LEC), which would enable them to access institutional credit, crop insurance and other government benefits.
The report was launched on Tuesday in the presence of former Supreme Court judge Justice Sudershan Reddy, Telangana Kaulu Raitula Gurtimpu Sadhana Committee chairman Prof D Narasimha Reddy, Prof Haragopal, Telangana Farmers Commission chairman M Kodanda Reddy, Rukmini Rao of Mahila Kisan Adhikar Manch, former Education Commission chairman Akunuri Murali and Justice Chandrakumar.
During the event, speakers urged the government to immediately implement the Act, issue Loan Eligibility Cards to tenant farmers and ensure that agricultural benefits, subsidies and compensation are delivered directly to cultivators rather than landowners.
