While almost 84 percent of the cultivated area in Maharashtra is completely dependent on monsoon showers, just about 15 percent of the area receives guaranteed water supply through irrigation projects such as canals and wells. However, when the rainfall is below average in any year, dryland and irrigated areas face problems. They also affect the animal husbandry business.
Moreover, nearly 50 percent of the agricultural land falls in drought-prone regions with erratic rainfall. It hits 14 districts and 114 talukas. About 16000 villages and 18000 wadis perpetually suffer from water scarcity, with occasional droughts. This is the reason why agriculture is not a profitable occupation. Water evaporation is rampant. The climate remains dry and hot. Due to less water available for the plants during the growing season, their growth is stunted. Animals don’t get sufficient fodder. The total rainfall spell is of 40 to 45 days. Of this, 60 percent or more of the rain occurs within two to three days. Assuming total monsoon period of 120 days, from June to September, it is of 17 weeks. As there is a big variation in rainfall, stressing of the crops is a common grievance. Thus, the productivity of kharif crops declines. For some years, the expenditure on tillage, fertilizers and seeds is not even recovered from the agricultural production. Hence, agriculture becomes a loss-making activity whereby farmers become indebted.
What is the way out? Firstly, it is necessary and beneficial to plan soil and water conservation as the only concrete solution. Every rain drop that falls in fields, dams or percolation ponds must be necessarily utilised to soak in the fields and to store the runoff water so that it can be used for agriculture by following the drip and frost irrigation systems. The productivity of dryland crops in the state is lower as compared to the country average. Therefore, there is no option but to adopt watershed development programmes to improve it. Also, the drip irrigation system can be more useful than frost irrigation. Because it has facility of simultaneous application of water and fertilizer and daily application of water as per requirement. There can be excess water in wells around farms, dams and lakes. If this water is sent by drip irrigation systems, it will be possible to soak more area with less water. This ambitious program is currently being implemented by the state government and there is an urgent need to increase its scope.
Water shortages is the main reason for low productivity of cereals, pulses and cotton crops in the state as compared to the national average. The percentage of irrigated area in India is more than 30 percent while in Maharashtra, it is only 17 percent. Assuming that 100 lakh tonnes of grain is produced in the state, it includes 50 lakh tonnes of sorghum, 25 lakh tonnes of rice, 11 lakh tonnes of millet and nine lakh tonnes of wheat. Sorghum is the major crop of the state. The area under this crop in the state is about 64 lakh hectares in kharif and rabi together.
Hybrid sorghum varieties are widely used in kharif season, so the productivity of kharif season sorghum crop is around ten quintals, while the average productivity of rabi sorghum is around six quintals. The area under cotton in the state is 32 to 35 lakh hectares. However, the average productivity of cotton is only 175 kg per hectare. Out of the 100 percent available canal and well irrigated water in the state, 70 percent of the water is used only for sugarcane crop, leaving no water available for other crops.
Uncertainty of monsoon rains adversely affects production of grains, vegetables and fruits. Consider an example. Maharashtra is the top onion growing region in India. Unseasonal rains in 1998 adversely affected the onion production, not only in Maharashtra, but in the whole country. Due to this, the price of onion skyrocketed. Mumbai, Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra are the main affected states by the shortage of onion. Due to this, there was a lot of unrest at the time.
In Maharashtra, nearly 42.50 percent of the total arable land has been severely eroded. There is a lack of nutrients in it, so it is necessary to plan a programme to improve the texture and quality of the soil. Another 72 lakh hectares area is barren. The average land holding in the state is 2.21 hectares. The proportion of small landholding and marginally landholding farmers will continue to increase in the future. Most farmers in the state, thus, are small and marginal, their ratio being 58 percent. Presently, there is an increase in the amount of cropland and saline zoned land in the state.
Farm labourers now get 35 kg of grain at a couple of rupees per kg from the government. As a result, their tendency to do hard work has diminished. This has had a major impact on the efficiency of agricultural labour. There is a shortage of semi-skilled and skilled labourers for agriculture. Moreover, the remuneration rate of agricultural labourers per day is continuously increasing. So, the cost of labour is increasing and the agriculture activity is facing more difficulties.
In Maharashtra, horticulture suffers owing to climate changes. Pomegranate, grapes, mango, chickpea, banana, orange, and mango have been affected by various diseases as well. Due to the measures taken to control the disease, the cost of cultivation increases. Excess use of pesticides is creating various problems for exportable fruits. Orchard planting also is facing difficulties.
Farmers’ produce is sent to the nearest market as it is perishable. But currently, the cost of transport has increased. It is necessary to devise a system so that the farmers can access the information about the demand and supply and prices in the markets every day through the Internet. Accordingly, they can send their goods to those markets where they can claim highest rates. That will increase the profit. However, as of now, this facility is not adequately available. Consequently, the farmers have to depend on the nearby markets and in turn accept lesser rates.
Power supply to agricultural pumps is not enough and well water cannot be supplied to agriculture due to load shedding for long times. This problem exists in entire Maharashtra but it has not been solved for many years. Lack of water due to lack of electricity puts crops under water stress and it affects production, productivity and commodity prices.
Maharashtra’s geographical terrain is not uniform. Different levels of income are derived in different parts of the state. As the amount of rainfall here is not predictable, farmers have to face the problem of water shortage all the time. Thus, the problem of dryland farming is serious. Another important issue is of erratic power supply.
There is a growing need for capital investment for agriculture in the state. A farmer should be empowered to decide the price of his produce. As the prices are determined by the brokers, it is difficult to get remunerative prices for the farmers. Agricultural processing industries are needed but they are only announced, do not become a reality.
The farming community is looking forward to a major change in governmental thinking to make it viable and growing.
A Column By
Dilip Chaware – Senior Editor
A media professional for 43 years, with extensive experience of writing on
a variety of subjects; he is also a documentary producer and book author.
