PONDA: Farmers from Ponda taluka are seeking government support for cultivating their fields since, they say, the cost of farming has shot up exponentially.
Ponda taluka was once known for agricultural activities, where every filed was cultivated. However, after the cost of cultivation became unaffordable, nearly 60 percent of the traditional farmers have given up farming in the taluka. Further, the new generation is not interested in farming; they are after government jobs or high paying private jobs.
Although the government subsidises many of the agricultural activities, many farmers feel that the subsidies are insufficient to meet cost of paddy cultivation. The farmers say that the government should come out with more schemes, including providing power tillers free of cost.
Further, many farmers with small land holdings do not know how to obtain government schemes for paddy. These farmers feel that agricultural officers should visit their fields and provide the required assistance and guidance to increase production.
Keshav Gaude, a farmer from Bandora, said, “Farmers face major problem of getting female labourers to plant crops. The farmers are paying Rs 700 for a male worker and Rs 300 for a female worker; this cost is not affordable to them. Further, for ploughing the paddy field, the farmers hire power tiller machine which chare Rs 500 per hour and considering field has to be ploughed twice, the cost keeps increasing.”
Therefore, he said, government should step forward and help the farmers, as many of them have kept their paddy fallow due to the cost factor.
Some farmers said the paddy they cultivate is sufficient for the whole year, but many have given up paddy cultivation, since the government provides rice through at subsidised rates under national food security scheme.
“Cultivating similar quantity of rice in a year is several times costlier than the rice provided by the government under National Food Security Act,” Gaude said.
