Looking back 2023 agriculture: Floods washed away farmers’ hopes

Tribune News Service

Aakanksha N Bhardwaj

Jalandhar, December 27

It remained a depressing year for farmers. Floods hit Lohian area in Jalandhar, Sultanpur Lodhi in Kapurthala and parts of Mukerian in Hoshiarpur in the month of July. The farmers suffered heavy losses as their entire paddy, sugarcane and maize crops were washed away in the deluge. Marginal farmers were the worst sufferers.

Sandeep Singh, a marginal farmer from flood-hit Mundi Cholian, took a loan of Rs 2 lakh for sowing paddy on six acres on contract (theka). The entire crop was damaged in the floods. “It’s like losing all hopes that I had for my children,” he said.

Several marginal farmers from flood-hit Lohian, who took land on contract for sowing crops, do not know how to overcome this crisis. Burden of loans taken for sowing crops, constructing houses and buying cattle and farming equipment devastated them.

Major issues

• No let-up in stubble burning cases
• Farmers from Lohian lost their entire crops in floods
• Protests seeking increase in sugarcane prices

Sarpanches of Mundi Cholian and Gatta Mundi Kasu said 90 per cent of the people in their villages had taken loans and they were now finding it difficult to repay the debt.

After water started receding from flood-hit areas in Jalandhar, farmers visited their fields to assess the losses caused by floodwater.

The fields were left unfit for the sowing of crop as huge amount of sand and silt got accumulated.

A visit to Mundi Shehrian, Mundi Cholian, Mandala Channa and Dhakka Basti by The Tribune presented two different pictures of the agricultural land after water had started receding. In some villages, fields were inundated while at other places, it felt like one had entered a desert because of sand deposited all over. Even cracks had developed in some fields.

Another major issue was protests by farmers demanding a hike in the State Agreed Price (SAP) of sugarcane from Rs 380 to Rs 450 per quintal. All 32 farmer unions of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) started an indefinite dharna on the Jalandhar-Phagwara stretch of the National Highway near Dhannowali village in November.

Tents were pegged and carpets and mattresses were laid on the road as thousands of farmers from across the state converged at the site. Vehicular movement from Jammu, Pathankot and Amritsar side via Jalandhar towards Ludhiana, Chandigarh, Nawanshahr, Haryana and further towards the National Capital got affected.

Apart from this, wheat and paddy stubble burning cases also remained high in Jalandhar. There seemed to be no let-up in stubble burning cases. Challans were issued and cases were also registered against the violators in Nawanshahr.

Difficultly in repaying debt

Several marginal farmers from flood-hit Lohian, who took land on contract for sowing crops, do not know how to overcome this crisis. Burden of loans taken for sowing crops, constructing houses and buying cattle and farming equipment devastated them. Sarpanches of Mundi Cholian and Gatta Mundi Kasu said 90 per cent of the people in their villages had taken loans and they were now finding it difficult to repay the debt.

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Tribune News Service

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