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Farmers stare at high input costs
Notwithstanding the fact that cost of cultivation of principal crops in Telangana like paddy, cotton and maize have witnessed an alarming rise, continuing its upward trend for the last one decade, farmers appeared buoyant as they commence yet another cropping season.
Hyderabad: Notwithstanding the fact that cost of cultivation of principal crops in Telangana like paddy, cotton and maize have witnessed an alarming rise, continuing its upward trend for the last one decade, farmers appeared buoyant as they commence yet another cropping season.
Thanks to the southwest monsoon that had kept its date with the region, but the worrying truth is that government’s Socio Economic Outlook-2017 makes it clear that the cost of production for several crops reached a dizzy height in the State compared to other regions in the country.
According to the trends available between 2008-09 and 2014-15, the cost of cultivation of paddy per hectare increased by 52 per cent from Rs 54,932 to Rs 83,515. In case of cotton, the input costs increased by 150 per cent from Rs 33,574 to Rs 84,045. Similarly, maize also witnessed a steep rise from Rs 38, 405 to Rs 73,767.
Despite free electricity provided by the government, farmers have to confront with factors such as lack of irrigation facilities and non-availability of institutional loans. This apart, use of fertilisers is also high. As a result, the cost of cultivation in the State is much higher than in other States
– Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal. Currently, the cost of cultivation in the State is Rs 30,000 per acre for paddy, Rs 45,000 for cotton and Rs 25,000 for maize. Notably, these costs do not include farmers’ months of toiling in the field.
The other major reason behind the escalation of cultivation costs is fragmentation of landholdings. Currently, the average size of holding in the State is around 1.12 hectare.
Although it is said that small holdings often bring high productivity as small and marginal farmers have more time to focus on their crops, on the flip side, it also increases cost of cultivation. It’s difficult for the small and marginal farmers to maintain the cattle round the year just to till their small landholdings.
“If the government distributes agriculture assets such as tractors and harvesting machines to the cooperative agricultural societies in villages, it will be of immense help to small and marginal farmers in reducing the input costs,” Rythu Sangham Telangana State Vice-president Nunna Nageswara Rao told The Hans India.
Even if the farmers overcome the vagaries of nature, the earning margin per acre of paddy cultivation ranges from Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000. If monsoon becomes erratic or any calamity strikes, even this slender profit margin will also get wiped out, he said.
By Adepu Mahender
