Even after leading several protests against the utter neglect by State and Central Governments, the plight of farmers is not improving in our country. Last month, Maharashtra Rajya Kisan Sabha had organized ‘Long March’ of over 50,000 farmers who walked nearly 200 Km from Nashik to Mumbai. A farmer who works extremely hard in his field, expecting that he would earn a fair amount for his produce ends up getting meagre amount.
In a recent incident, a farmer in Madhya Pradesh’s Budhni town of Sehore district was offered only Rs 680 for 100-crate stock of tomatoes. Upset with such meagre amount offered, the farmer threw away all the tomatoes on the road.
Pain Of Farmers
Pappu, a 26 year-old-farmer is a resident of Amon Village who received a sum of Rs 4,000 for 100 crates of tomatoes, that is, Rs 40 for each crate. When he calculated the money deducting other expenditures like Rs 2500 for motor rent, Rs 500 for labour and Rs 320 for a merchant, he was left with a net sale of mere Rs 680.
Other than Pappu, thousands of farmers in the state are facing a similar problem. Brijesh Kumar (45), another farmer in the same village said that he borrowed a loan of Rs six lakh for farming, but this year due to low returns for his crop, he too was forced to dump his tomatoes on the road.
Kumar further stated that lender is asking for his money and that he has no money to pay back the loan. Brijesh laments that the lenders’ pressure has left him with only one option of committing suicide.
No Facility Of Cold Storage
A farmer named Virendra told The Times of India that they do not have cold storage in their village to store these perishable commodities. He also alleged that he had asked State Government for cold storage, but his request has not been fulfilled
This is not the first incident, farmers have earlier dumped their produce on the road after being paid unfair prices by the vegetable merchants. Last month, a farmer destroyed his entire crop as he was offered only Rs 442 for 400 Kg cauliflower.
Earlier this year, UP farmers protested outside the residence of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. They were angry for being paid as low as Rs 4/kg for potato. Potato growers dumped truckloads of potatoes in front of the CM Yogi’s residence
Even after spending months sowing seeds, taking care of their crops day and night and buying fertilisers and pesticides for it, they are not being paid a decent amount for it. This is leading them towards bankruptcy and pushing them towards an endless cycle of poverty. The Logical Indian hopes that the concerned authorities take notice and these farmers are provided with a fair price for their produce.
