Paddy farmers earn less than a farm labourer s monthly wages
The returns are demotivating considering that a tenant farmers income through paddy cultivation per acre is less than what a farm labourer earns in a monthPaddy cultivation has become a curse for small and marginal farmers because of increasing input and overhead costs and exploitation by market forcesThough the state government has been paying the minimum support price MPS that has been announced by the Union government paddy farmers in Telangana remain unhappyWe get good water from Mangapuram Minor of NSP Left canal and the increasing costs of paddy cultivation are demoralisingIt is better to work as a farm labourer than go in for paddy cultivation he said
A farmer from Rapalle in Bonakal mandal said that he planned to raise maize or black gram from next year He said that the increase of diesel costs has also impacted paddy cultivation Representational imageDCKHAMMAM Farmers cultivating paddy in Khammam district are in distress for more reasons than oneThere is little scope to make paddy a profitable option in the countrys rice bowl The returns are demotivating considering that a tenant farmers income through paddy cultivation per acre is less than what a farm labourer earns in a month Paddy cultivation has become a curse for small and marginal farmers because of increasing input and overhead costs and exploitation by market forcesThough the state government has been paying the minimum support price MPS that has been announced by the Union government paddy farmers in Telangana remain unhappyBairam Prasada Rao a tenant farmer in Anasagaram in Nelakondapalli mandal is a classic case in pointI had one acre of land and I used to take another four acres on lease We get good water from Mangapuram Minor of NSP Left canal and the increasing costs of paddy cultivation are demoralising The earnings after slogging for eight months are less than Rs 6000 It is better to work as a farm labourer than go in for paddy cultivation he saidE Venkateswarlu a farmer from Rapalle in Bonakal mandal said that he planned to raise maize or black gram from next year He said that the increase of diesel costs has also impacted paddy cultivationLack of sufficient warehousing godowns adds to the problems and millers pay MSP only after the produce is delivered at the mills There is also a risk in protecting the produce on thrashing floors from rains for three to four days at a stretchTharam a practice of deduction of paddy from each bag of 75 kilo causes a heavy loss Initially two kilos per bag used to be collected as tharam by millers It is now five to seven kilos per bag With this the farmer is losing Rs 3400 per acre
