There are many farmers in Bicholim who have felt the heat of rising labour cost and have abandoned farming considering it as a ‘non profitable’ profession.
In Virdi at Sanquelim there are several farmers who consider the rise in cost of labour as the only reason for them going away from the traditional profession of farming.
“Our forefathers were totally dependent upon farming but this is not the case now. We have almost abandoned farming because of several reasons and the most important is the rise in labour cost and also unavailability of labour” Narayan Jalmi from Virdi said.
In recent times the cost of male labour has gone up to Rs500 and that of a woman to Rs 300 per day. The farmers who have very small piece of land cannot afford to spend so much on the labour when they very well know that the income they would get in return is meagre.
“We can’t afford to spend such a huge amount on the labour and so we have abandoned our fields. The government schemes could be availed only if one has huge farms and for a small farming it is not possible to get a tractor” Jalmi told. The sluice gate which earlier used to provide water to these farms have been left unattended since last many years.
“Now we get the required rice from the fair price shops and so there is no need to cultivate it in the fields due to the labour cost involved” Jalmi told. The sluice gate at Virdi used to also give fishes to the villagers but now, with no farming involved the sluice gate has remained unattended.
“There are about 60 farmers who have abandoned farming here and the main reason is unavailability of labourers and also the cost involved in it. Labourers also demand that they should get free food and transport which is not feasible for every farmer” local councilor, Damu Ghadi told.
