Bundelkhand’s Water Shortage Has Changed The Face Of Indian Agriculture

Water is the most important resource to a farmer - without it, no amount of good weather and sunlight will protect their crops. India’s farmer suicide rate last year hit a grim high with a reported 3228 deaths in Maharashtra alone - In 2014, the nation had around 12,360 farmer suicides. These rates are high, especially considering the odds that are stacked against these farmers, but no place is as affected as the farming population of Bundelkhand, who are trying to make ends meet even with bureaucratic trouble.

I. An old pond in Hamirpur district still holds water despite the drought

“I have made up my mind. I cannot repay my loans. I cannot free my land. I will die,” said Ram Bahadur Singh in a report to Live Mint. He adds that the government offered to pay 7 lakhs to families of dead farmers and that if he died, his family would be able to procure free land. Singh is one of many similar stories in the Bundelkhand region, an area in Central India that hasn’t seen consistent rain in over 10 years. Between droughts, floods and debt, these farmers have now latched on to a new rational, a risky way of paying back their debts, from growing a mix of dry crops, which rely heavily on monsoon, to input-heavy irrigated crops of wheat, along with chickpea and mustard.

II. An agricultural field in the Noner mouza of Datia district is embanked to catch rainfall

At the start of the millennium, it seemed that India’s agricultural industry was taking off, but with the droughts, many farmers have been left in debt to local moneylenders. In a report to The Hindu, activist Chandrakant Wankhede mentioned that packages from the government no longer work for farmers, who are in dire need of farmer-oriented policy. Loan waivers were initially introduced in 2008, which saw a decrease in suicide rates, but since 2011 no other steps have been taken. If they have, they’re only legislative and have no direct impact on the livelihoods of the farmers. Most developments do not account for village-level planning or access to irrigation facilities, most of the money gets spent on warehouses, market yards and dams, which do not help farmers who have to meet the demands of the market.

III. A well in Salaiya Pamar is being dug to make the most of the raised groundwater level.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the PM Crop Insurance Scheme, which covers 50 percent of the farmers under an insurance policy in the coming three years. This allows 90 percent premium money to be paid by the Centre towards the stems of crops and not just the fully grown crop. Unfortunately, with the lack of water, even the insurance may not help so much if crops don’t grow.

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