An account of the rice farmer; it is his statement on
rice farming on his own land and in his area once dominated by farming
activities. The place is not far away from the capital city Agartala.
The
farmers with a family members of three owns the below mentioned quantum of
land:-
1. Total land: - 11.50 Kani
a.
Two cropped land: - 4 Kani
b.
One cropped land: - 3 Kani
c.
Tilla land: - 3 Kani
d. Homestead land: - 1 Kani
e.
Farm pond: - 0.5 Kani
What the farmer is doing during this
khariff the main cropping season of the state are as follows:-
1.
Total land: - 10 Kani
a.
Two cropped land: - 4 Kani
i.
Given on crop lease:- 3 Kani
ii.
Given on rent:- 1 Kani
b.
One cropped land: - 3 Kani
i.
Given on crop lease:- 2 Kani
ii.
Growing own crop: - 1 Kani
c.
Tilla land: - 3 Kani
i.
Tilla land is maintained for the purpose of Bamboo and other forest tree. This is to ensure his
requirement for fire wood, cane and bamboo.
d. Homestead land: - 1 Kani
i.
Houses: - 17 Guntas
ii. Homestead garden: - 3
Guntas
e.
Farm pond: - 0.5 Kani
i.
This is maintained for daily water requirement for household works and also fishery activities.
What he narrated about the rice
farming in particular and agriculture in general is; farming is no longer a
remunerative profession.
Of this, rice farming has become a loss making activities which people just compelled to continue for staple need of the family.
Of this, rice farming has become a loss making activities which people just compelled to continue for staple need of the family.
This year he has given most of his
fertile land on crop lease because, cultivation of rice is no longer viable in
his area due to shortage of farm labour, low production in the unit area and
low price of rice in the market.
Giving the land on crop lease has
also become a matter of concern because there are hardly any takers for growing
crops due to low price of rice in the local market. For a farmer to give land
on crop lease to somebody would also require certain amount of investment.
But in return what he gets is; few quintals of rice for family need. Now, once prominent farmers are struggling to maintain their cultivable land due to present farming scenario.
But in return what he gets is; few quintals of rice for family need. Now, once prominent farmers are struggling to maintain their cultivable land due to present farming scenario.
Now the land owner has to supply
fertilizer and cost of initial field preparation to the person who has agreed
to grow crop on his land with the condition that the total yield would be
divided into two equal parts.
There are even instances, where land
owner just to keep his land under cropping gives his land for a just 1.20
quintals of rice per kani per cropping
season where the farmer would have obtained the yield of 6.40 to 8.00 quintals of
rice per kani per crop.
Farmer stated that the present rate
of wages of farm labour is quite high as indicated below:-
a.
Male:- Rs.300 per man-day
b.
Female:- Rs.220 per man-day
Whereas, the
existing price of rice is as follows:-
a.
Rs.260-300 per 0.4 quintals
Farmer feels that rice farming would
be remunerative if it gets good market price in the range of Rs.400 to Rs.500
per 0.4 quintals of rice. But, getting this price at this prevailing market
condition would be highly unlikely unless state comes out and help in the way
of support price.
But question remains that will the
support mechanism help in rescuing the rice farmers? This is because, there are
many inter-related variables which are necessary for improving the condition of
rice farming.
This is the generalized feeling and statement of the concerned farmer.
This is the generalized feeling and statement of the concerned farmer.
Agritangkol
dated 06.07.2012