Fatehgarh Sahib: He owns four acres of land, farms 20 acres more on lease, and has a debt of Rs 10 lakh. Gurmukh Singh, 44, is one of better-to-do farmers of Pandrali, a quiet, well-groomed village in Fatehgarh Sahib district with several newly-built houses, smooth streets and girls on scooters. It’s a picture that could well be captioned ‘prosperous Punjab’. But the genteel façade hides the struggles of the state’s farming community.
“I am a farmer, have never done anything else, but it’s not sustainable any longer,” Gurmukh clears his throat. A former village head, he is clearly uneasy about sharing his troubles with strangers. The price of potato, the crop he grew on part of the land he’s leased, has crashed. It means more debt for he has to pay a rent of Rs 40,000 for an acre though his potato crop has fetched him only Rs 25,000. “This is what happens when you diversify,” he fumes.
This week, the Punjab government announced a waiver of crop loans up to Rs 2 lakh for small and marginal farmers (up to five acres). Gurmukh is relieved that he falls in this bracket but wishes the government had announced a complete loan waiver. “I know the state has limited funds, but the Centre should rescue farmers,” he opines.
Like most farmers in the state, this matriculate grows wheat and paddy, the two crops with a guaranteed minimum support price (MSP). Paddy has leached the land of water leading to fears of desertification—the water table at Pandrali has breached 70 feet, and is falling at the rate of three feet a year—yet farmers refuse to grow other crops. “I have tried turmeric, sugarcane, maize and vegetables, but marketing is a problem. The sugarcane mills don’t pay us for months and prices of other crops are erratic,” explains Gurmukh.
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