Drought crisis in Maharashtra: Farmers run tractors on dry crops

"Due to lack of rain, our entire soybean crop has dried up. It has not yielded even a single pod and now there is no hope of producing pods. That's why we are running a tractor on it."

On September 13, farmer Mauli Kadam of Sandas Chincholi area of ​​Beed district in Maharashtra drove a tractor on the soybean crop grown in 3 acres.

Drought like situation has arisen in 20 districts of the state. There has been no rain in 86 taluks for more than 30 days. Due to this, at some places the crops have started drying up, while at some places the crops have started getting spoiled.

Similar situation is there in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar like Beed.

Here in Rahatgaon of Paithan taluka we met farmer Laxman Gore.

Standing in a cotton field, he said, "There was some rain in June, so we did the sowing based on that. But we got nothing. We had planted wheat and barley, but now we are worried because there is no water even for drinking and the entire field is filled with weeds."

Laxman further said, "Moong is gone, cotton is gone. Soybean is gone. What is left for us now? Now the only option left is to work as a labourer."

crops left for animals to eat

Passing through Laxman's fields, we saw crops like arhar, moong and cotton drying up due to lack of rain. Seeing the condition of the crops, Laxman says that now he does not even feel like setting foot in the fields.

We saw animals grazing in a field in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district. When we reached the field, we came to know that moong had been sown there. But due to lack of rain for a month, not a single pod had formed on the moong.

Therefore, the farmer here told us that the crops which had grown in this field till now, have been left for the animals to eat.

We met Vasant Jadhav, a farmer from Davarwadi village in Paithan taluka.

He said, "I have some orange trees in my farm. But this year there is no water for the oranges. The oranges are falling. Earlier there was water in the well, but now that too has dried up."

Ankush Nemane, a soybean farmer from Pachod, has noticed that the 9 acres of soybean crop in his field has started turning yellow.

Ankush Nemane said, "Now this soybean crop will not even be useful for eating. What will happen to the grain? Now it will have to be converted directly into fodder."

'One acre costs Rs 25,000'

We were discussing with some farmers in the cotton fields in Paithan.

There a young farmer told that the cost of one acre of cotton cultivation is 20 to 25 thousand rupees.

He further said, "The only expectation from the government is that the government should declare drought as soon as possible and provide assistance of Rs 50,000 per hectare."

In this Kharif season, from June 1 to September 16, the average rainfall in Marathwada has been 67%. Due to this there is a shortage of 33% rain.

In Marathwada, Latur district has the highest rainfall deficit of 49%, while Parbhani has 45% rainfall deficit.

Sunil Wankhede is the joint director of the agriculture department of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar division.

He says, "The gap between rains has been from 30-32 days to 37 days. Due to lack of rain for such a long time, Kharif crops like soybean, maize and cotton have been adversely affected."

20 districts are under threat of drought

Drought like situation has arisen in 20 districts of the state.

These 20 districts include Sindhudurg, Sangli, Solapur, Ahilyanagar, Dharashiv, Latur, Beed, Jalna, Parbhani, Hingoli, Nanded, Akola, Washim, Amravati, Yavatmal, Wardha, Nagpur, Chandrapur, Gadchiroli and Nandurbar.

There has been no rain for 30 days in 86 taluks of these 20 districts.

This includes 31 talukas of North Maharashtra, 17 of Western Maharashtra, 16 of Marathwada and 22 talukas of Vidarbha.

Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule had said a few days ago that the Chief Minister has ordered a survey of the damage caused to the crops due to lack of rain.

The Chief Minister has ordered to start the survey of drought situation in the state from October 5.

Recently, a meeting was held under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to review the situation of rain and crops in the state.

Speaking to the media after the meeting, Devendra Fadnavis said, "We have taken information about the situation in every taluka, including how much rain has been received. We have started preparations to take steps to deal with shortage and drought. The state government is ready to provide whatever help is required to the farmers."

According to data from the Water Supply and Sanitation Department, drinking water was supplied through 307 tankers to 286 villages and 1182 houses in the state in the first week of September during the monsoon.