Atmaram Tekale, a farmer from Dabhad village in Ardhapur taluka, shows empty soybean pods in his farm
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: Atmaram Tekale’s 1.5-acre field is covered in soybean plants. “Get even 1 kg soybean from my 1.5 acres, I’ll give a quintal of cashews. It comes after a Sept 19 drought review meeting attended by state agriculture minister Dattatraya Bharane and elected representatives courted controversy over dry fruits being served. Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Sept 17 that govt would provide financial assistance to drought-affected farmers without waiting for National Disaster Response Fund relief. He said surveys under NDRF guidelines would begin from Oct 5, as required to qualify for central assistance, but the state would not wait until then to respond. Marathwada has seen its kharif sowing area fall by 3.6 lakh hectares compared with the average of the previous five years following the delayed monsoon. The region usually has more than 46 lakh hectares under kharif cultivation.
NCP spokesperson Vikas Lawande, who shared Tekale’s video, said farmers had lost faith in govt and its policies. Stay updated with the latest Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar news.
I will resort to crowd-funding (to buy dry fruits), but show me even one grain of soybean here,” Tekale says in a video that has been widely circulated. No matter how many hollow assurances govt gives, the reality in the farmers’ fields does not change,” Lawande said. “The farmer doesn’t want mere assurances, but CM should provide immediate financial aid of Rs 50,000 per hectare,” he added.
However, there is not a single soybean in sight. Standing amid the failed crop at Dabhad village in Nanded ’s Ardhapur taluka, the farmer holds up empty pods. Months of spending and waiting have come to this. His anger boils over as a challenge to govt. His words have struck a chord across drought-hit Marathwada, where farmers are counting their losses after a delayed monsoon, a largely dry Aug and weak rainfall in Sept. The cashew challenge carries a barb. For Tekale, however, the crisis is unfolding in his field. In the video, he mentions the money spent on cultivating soybean this kharif season. Then he points to the empty pods. There is little crop left to harvest and recover his investment. His frustration also reflects a wider complaint among farmers: that official visits, reviews and assurances have done little to change what they see on the ground. “Their grievance is that govt doesn’t pay heed to their issues. The growing anger comes despite state govt promising aid. For farmers such as Tekale, however, the urgency is already visible in their fields. Farmers say crops across large tracts have also suffered after a largely dry Aug and weak monsoon run in Sept. And in Dabhad, Tekale’s empty soybean pods have become a stark expression of that frustration. Download the TOI App.
Tekale also referred to a controversy over Bharane’s visit to Nanded on Saturday, alleging that the minister visited a farm belonging to a local liquor businessman instead of that of an affected farmer.