Truant monsoon forces four vidarbha farmers to end life in 48 hrs-DNA

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Truant monsoon forces four vidarbha farmers to end life in 48 hrs-DNA

  http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_truant-monsoon-forces-four-farmers-to-end-life-in-48-hrs_1711223

DNA / Yogesh Pawar / Friday, July 6, 2012 8:00 IST

The erratic progress of the monsoon has made four distressed farmers from Vidarbha commit suicide in the last 48 hours alone.

Six others had done the same last week.

Activists fear that if rains are delayed further, there could be a sharp increase in the tally of farmers’ suicides in Vidarbha from 426 from January this year.

Kishore Tiwari of Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti says “An arid Vidarbha has had erratic rains since 2010. This year, too, the second week of June saw very heavy rains in some blocks. This was followed by normal monsoon as forecast by the metrological department. On cue, farmers finished sowing, only to face a complete dry spell for 20 days. They were forced to watch the heat scorch both their freshly sown crop and their hopes of good production.”

Tiwari takes umbrage at agriculture minister Sharad Pawar’s comment that the delay in monsoon is not a matter of concern. “Coming on the heels of the National Crime Records Bureau’s announcement that Maharashtra saw the largest number of farmers’ suicides in 2011, this seems not only insensitive, but is also a mockery of the farmers’ distress.”

Official figures show that less than 25% of the over three million cotton farmers are covered by institutional banks and that crop loan disbursement target is less than 40% of Nabard’s (National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development) credit outlay to the region. “The government knows credit crunch is the real issue and credit-starved, debt-trapped farmers are being pushed to end their lives, but we haven’t seen the government being pro-active in this regard,” alleges Tiwari. “At least now, it should intervene and restructure crop loans.”

“The water in dams and reservoirs is fast depleting. Ground water levels have dropped due to over-exploitation. Those moving away from cotton and soya, which ruin both the ecosystem and their lives, to traditional crops which require less water, like pulses, groundnut, jowar and bajra, should be given incentives,” he urges.

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Climate Change claims four vidarbha farmers' suicides in last 48 Hours

Climate Change claims four vidarbha farmers' suicides in last 48 Hours

Climate change and credit crunch claims four vidarbha farmers' suicides in last 48 Hours

NAGPUR: 5^TH  July  2012

The erratic monsoon and effects of climate change has started giving it’s severe effect   in farm suicides prone dry land region vidarbha where four more distressed small farmers killed themselves in last 48 hours as per reports published in local media  and  they are identified as

1.Rajebdra Raut  of Village Ajani in Yavatmal

2.Vithal Jugnake of Village Hiwara in Wardha

3.Suresh Thokale of Village Wadhona in Wardha

4.Gopichand Khatole of Village Khandi in Gondia

Earlier last week six ill fated farmers who committed suicides due to delayed rains and failure sowing  as reported earlier are

5.Dhyaneshwar Tayde og village Telhra  dist..Akola

6.Rajendra Wadhai of village Supalipar in distt. Gondi

7.Ramdas Hingwe of village Nara in wardha

8.Babulal Rathode of village deurwadi in Yavatmal

9. Vijay  Pimpalshende of Sonurli in Yavatmal

10. Ambadas Hatgoankar of Konghara in Yavatmal

This takes tally of farmers suicides in vidarbha  to 422 in year 2012 ,Kishore Tiwari of Vidarbha Jandolan Samiti (VJAS) informed in press release today

“In dry land region of vidarbha we are facing the problem of erratic rain of monsoon since 2010 this year too earlier second week June there were very heavy rains some of select blocks followed by normal monsoon forecast of metrological deptt. tempting   farmer to start sowing but next 20 days ,the dry spell with very hot sunny days damaged whole sowing fueling the distress in dying cotton farmers resulting in such high numbers of suicides  ,till monsoon rain pattern of heavy rain in select block and complete drought like situation in some of district is causing grate concern but you are surprised to see the remark of Indian Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar that delay in monsoon is not matter of worry  as he may right because he has never looked at dying farmers of Maharashtra even NCRB has been reporting maximum suicides indicating agrarian crisis is at it’s peak in mother state of  Sharad Pawar that’s is very unfortunate and shocking ”Tiwari added.

‘As per official figure of  administration out 3 million  cotton farmers only 25% farmers have been covered in to institutional banks and crop loan disbursement target is less 40% of NABARD credit outlay to the region and credit crunch has been issue as debt trapped farmers are credit starved and is one of factor of despair in agrarian crisis hence we demand central intervention for crop loan restructuring in selct blocks where resowing is being done’ Tiwari urged.

“Vidarbha agrarian crisis has entered seven year now and vidarbha farmers suicides are being reported since June 2005 @ 8 hourly and as per official Govt. record more that 9000 dry land farmers have killed themselves due distress and despair accumulated due to crop failure and economic losses due cotton prices collapses due wrong policies of Indian Govt. regarding export  . now one side monsoon rain are getting delayed other side banks are not giving fresh crop loan to farmers and input cost of as Bt.cotton seed ,fertilizers and pesticides have been  has been almost double in same cases triple which is also adding fuel to the crisis as last year too in maharashtra alone Bt.cotton failed in 42 lakh hector and maharashtra has officially paid more than Rs.4000 crore as compensation to the dying cotton farmers of region  hence furrows on farmers' brows are getting deeper as they desperately wait for rains,.with the monsoon playing truant, water level in reservoirs of large and medium dams is fast depleting At least now the government should intervene to see that farmers take up less rain-sensitive food crops like jawar and bajra instead of cotton and soya so as to sustain food needs for the year ahead," said Tiwari.

‘Ground reality in  complete maharashtra in too gloomy to explain ground water level has reached to very alarming level and uncontrolled water mining is adding fuel to crisis and the promotion of very rain sensitive crop like Bt.cotton by the maharashtra state is making situation more difficult as farmers who want shift from Bt.cotton they are not getting good quality seed of food crop and pluses  more over very low minimum support price and productivity ,farmers are being forced to opt Bt.cotton seed  hence we demand urgent Govt. intervention to provide direct aid and quality seed for the dry land farmers who are demanding seed of pulses ,ground nu ,jawar ,bajar maize ’ Tiwari urged to the Govt.

German study on Bt cotton benefits in India is Untrue and Misleading- VJAS

German study on Bt cotton benefits in India is Untrue and Misleading- VJAS  

Nagpur -3^rd July 2012

The so called German study of 533 farming households in four cotton growing states including Karnataka between 2002 and 2008 done by Agricultural Economist Matin Qaim at Germany’s University of Goettingen, published in the July 2 issue of Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences that Bt cotton has economically benefited not merely the big farmers. Small farmers are also smiling as their profit margin shot up by 50 per cent in the last decade is untrue and misleading as ground reality is too gloomy to explain and it is unfair to draw such conclusion when Bt.cotton is being cultivated in more than 12 million hector and around 10 million cotton farmers are opted for Bt.cotton seed replacing traditional cotton seed and all officials reports confirm that the introduction of commercial trials Bt.cotton seed is one main reason of triggering cotton farmers suicides and has been main cause vidarbha agrarian crisis forcing Indian Govt. shift from tradition cotton seed hence such baseless and fabricated study is part of paid news campaign being intentionally done Bt.cotton seed manufacturer US base world largest Bt.cotton seed producing company Monsanto Inc. hence 3 million distressed and debt trapped dry land cotton farmers demand Indian Govt. clarification over such hyped surveys and study reports taking micro sample of select cotton farmers ,informed today vidarbha cotton farmers’ advocacy group Vidarbha Jannadolan Samiti (VJAS) convener Kishore Tiwari  who is  demanding the complete ban of genetically modified Bt.cotton seed in vidarbha and documenting cotton farmers suicides since 2002 .

    

The recent move of Central Institute of Cotton Research (CICR) and The Maharashtra government to implement a pilot project titled as the Brazilian model of Non-Bt.cotton promotion in eight districts of Vidarbha region to start cultivation of straight varieties of cotton in place of hybrid or Bt (Genetically-Modified) ones, the government appears to be doing a rethink over its policy of promoting Bt cotton  which confirm complete failure of Bt.cotton seed technology but such project will be futile when  nearly 90% of the area under cotton in India is under Bt varieties which cover around 12 million hector and any trial 160 acres of land belonging to 160 farmers in this region will be difficult to give desired result hence we demand complete ban Bt.cotton cultivation in dry land region of vidarbha  to make compulsory for cotton farmers’ to cultivate non-Bt straight indigenous varieties which are proven for hundreds of years, Kishor Tiwari of vidarbha advocacy group Vidarbha Janandolan Samiti (VJAS.) added.

“the German study  carried out in 533 farming households in four cotton growing states including Karnataka between 2002 and 2008, the study says cotton yields and profits increased by 24 and 50 per cent respectively among Bt cotton farmers as against non-Bt crops where as in vidarbha is agrarian crisis is directly linked with as all farmer suicide prone district mono crop  which is predominantly cultivated is Bt.cotton since 2005 and now State agriculture commissioner Umakant Dangat officially admitted that  India has the lowest cotton productivity in the world and Maharashtra, the lowest in India and union agriculture  minister  Mr Sharad Pawar own admission that vidarbha dry land farmers are losing more than Rs.2000 crore per year since introduction of Bt.cotton seed in vidarbha,  is proven fact that it’s classic example  of promoting wrong technology  to wrong class agrarian community as rain sensitive crop has proven killer seed in west vidarbha as 95% farmers opted this technology are dry land farmers ” Tiwari added.

‘We urged Matin Qaim, professor of agricultural economics and rural development at Georg-August-University of Goettingen and all other authors of the study to the dying field of vidarbha where more than 9000 cotton farmers committed suicide and 100% farmers who opted Bt.cotton seed are in distress and debt where as Indian Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar himself admitted in Indian parliament that vidarbha cotton farmers’ are losing more than Rs.2000 crore due to wrong selection of rain sensitive Bt.cotton in rain fed region of Maharashtra  and study also contradict the official report  of Central Institute of Cotton Research (CICR) Director Keshav Kranthi  that the cost of seeds of straight varieties is much lower than Bt varieties, besides which these varieties become ready for plucking in just 150-160 days whereas BT varieties take around 180-200 days, which reduces the need for fertilizers, pesticides and other nutrients substantially and unlike Bt cotton varieties, seeds derived from straight cotton varieties can be used during the next season ,these are ground realities totally ignored hence study reports is untrue and misleading hence we want Indian Govt. “white paper”  the performance of Bt. Cotton seed in last decade’ Tiwari added.

Delayed rains claims six vidarbha farmers' suicides in last 72  hours

NAGPUR: 1^st July 1 2012

When cotton farmers Vijay  Pimpalshende a small dry land farmer holding 3 acre land aged 42 in village Sonurli when went to see the condition of seed after sowing it second week of June  and complete failure of seed sowing forced him consumed pesticide  and reported dead in Govt. medical college Yavatmal   .the fate of another cotton farmer near by in konghara village farmers Ambadas Hatgoankar(37) who is also dry land small farmer holding 3 acre of land and who has also opted rain sensitive Bt.cotton crop  which failed due delayed rain and worst climatic condition  become similar when he too consumed pesticide and also declared dead in Govt. medical college Yavatmal .the complete June month is over and only 15% seed sowing is done and farmers who believed  on Indian metrological forecast of normal monsoon and at right time opted pre monsoon lost complete seed sowing and farmers who are in deep distress   and debt trapped are committing suicides like Vijay and Amadas  did as in last 72 hours in vidarbha another six farmers suicides reported including Vijay  Pimpalshende and Ambadas Hatgoankar  and they are identified as

1.Dhyaneshwar Tayde og village Telhra  dist..Akola

2.Rajendra Wadhai of village Supalipar in distt. Gondi

3.Ramdas Hingwe of village Nara in wardha

4.Babulal Rathode of village deurwadi in Yavatmal

and

5. Vijay  Pimpalshende of Sonurli in Yavatmal

6. Ambadas Hatgoankar of Konghara in Yavatmal

This takes tally of farmers suicides in vidarbha  to 422 in year 2012 ,Kishore Tiwari of Vidarbha Jaandolan Samiti (VJAS) informed in press release today

“Vidarbha agrarian crisis has entered seven year now and vidarbha farmers suicides are being reported since June 2005 @ 8 hourly  and as per official Govt. record more that 9000 dry land farmers have killed themselves due distress and despair accumulated due to crop failure and economic losses due cotton prices collapses due wrong policies of Indian Govt. regarding export  . now one side monsoon rain are getting delayed other side banks are not giving fresh crop loan to farmers and input cost of as Bt.cotton seed ,fertilizers and pesticides have been  has been almost double in same cases triple which is also adding fuel to the crisis as last year too in maharashtra alone Bt.cotton failed in 42 lakh hector and maharashtra has officially paid more than Rs.4000 crore as compensation to the dying cotton farmers of region  hence furrows on farmers' brows are getting deeper as they desperately wait for rains,.with the monsoon playing truant, water level in reservoirs of large and medium dams is fast depleting At least now the government should intervene to see that farmers take up less rain-sensitive food crops like jawar and bajra instead of cotton and soya so as to sustain food needs for the year ahead," said Tiwari.

‘Ground reality in  complete maharashtra in too gloomy to explain ground water level has reached to very alarming level and uncontrolled water mining is adding fuel to crisis and the promotion of very rain sensitive crop like Bt.cotton by the maharashtra state is making situation more difficult as farmers who want shift from Bt.cotton they are not getting good quality seed of food crop and pluses  more over very low minimum support price and productivity ,farmers are being forced to opt Bt.cotton seed  hence we demand urgent Govt. intervention to provide direct aid and quality seed for the dry land farmers who are demanding seed of pulses ,ground nu ,jawar ,bajar maize ’ Tiwari urged to the Govt.

Four more farmers commit suicide in Vidarbha-Hindustan Times

Friday, June 29, 2012

Pradip Kumar Maitra, Hindustan Times
Nagpur, June 29, 2012

Four more farmers commit suicide in Vidarbha

Farmer Suicides In Vidarbha Region - Yearwise

2001: 52   / 2002: 104 /  2003: 148 /  2004: 447  /2005: 445 /  2006: 1,448 / 2007: 1,246/ 2008: 1,268/  2009: 916 / 2010: 748 / 2011: 918 / 2012: 416 (till June 29)

 

The miseries of farmers of Vidarbha have aggravated with monsoon playing truant. Already driven to resorting to desperate measures owing to prevailing agrarian crisis, the farmers are now faced with the threat of resowing their crop if it doesn’t rain soon. Against this grim scenario, suicides by distressed farmers continue to haunt the killing field of Vidarbha. As many as four farmers, including a woman, ended their lives in last 48 hours in the region. The farmers’ suicide toll has reached 48 in June as against 52 in May this year. A total of 416 farmers ended their lives because of debts and crop failure since January 2012. The situation is so severe that at least two farmers commit suicide in the region every day.

According to reports reaching Nagpur on Friday, one farmer each from Yavatmal, Buldhana, Amravati and Wardha in western part of Vidarbha, swallowed pesticides to end life after they were denied fresh crop loans by the banks for this season.

Kiran Khodke of Atraj village in Buldhana district committed suicide when first sowing dried up because of paucity of rainfall. He had sowed soyabean and cotton after borrowing loans from private moneylenders. However, it did not click as there was no rainfall in the area for the last 10 days thus sowing dried up. A depressed Khodke could not arrange for funds for resowing finally swallowed pesticide to end his life.

Khodke’s family rushed him to the nearest civil hospital where he died this morning. The other three deaths are more or less similar. "These farmers were depressed when they were denied bank loans and could not start the sowing process this kharif season," claimed Kishore Tiwari of Vidarbha Janandolan Samiti that has been documenting the farmers’ suicide in the region.

Three other farmers who committed suicide include: Vishwanath Khawai, Nara (Wardha), Waman Shende of Sonurli (Yavatmal) and Manorama Deshmukh, Chandash (Wathoda) in Amravati district.

The region has been witnessing spate of suicides since 1997. The state as well as the central government came out with several relief packages to bail-out distressed farmers. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced a Rs 3,750-crore relief package during his 2006 visit to the region. However, these packages failed to stem the suicides. As many as 918 farmers ended their lives last year.

There was a time when this part of Central India was well-known for its rich black cotton soil. Gradually the picture changed and now the region presents a picture of poverty, parched land and widows.  Poor rainfall, expensive healthcare, rise in agro-input costs and the lure of latest consumer durables etc have led to the financial misery of the farmers. Moreover, they are not getting remunerative price of their produce because of the prevailing prices and demand in the international markets or so the farmers are given to believe.

Ashwin Mudgal, the Yavatmal district collector, was not available for comments. Yavatmal is one of the worst suicide-hit districts in the region.
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Ludhiana teacher donates tubewell for Maharashtra's tribals- IANS

Ludhiana teacher donates tubewell for Maharashtra's tribals

Orissa,Environment/Wildlife,Features, Wed, 27 Jun 2012 IANS

Nagpur, June 27 (IANS) Hundreds of tribals living in the remote forests of Maharashtra's Yavatmal district rejoiced when fresh and cool water started gushing out in full force from a tubewell in the parched Nandgaon locality.

The tubewell, among four drilled this week out of donations from school and college students, was the brainchild of Manish Dedhwal, a teacher of the BCM High School, Ludhiana.

The Nandgaon tubewell is dedicated to the memory of 11-year-old Monu Kapoor, who succumbed to leukemia and was denied water in his last few moments as he had lost his lungs.

"His mother Rama Kapoor, an English teacher in the BCM High School, was heartbroken as Monu was her only child. She made an instant donation of Rs.51,000 for this project, saying no child should be deprived of water," Dedhwal told IANS.

The newly-drilled tubewell was inaugurated Monday at a solemn prayer ceremony with Monu's picture garlanded and all tribals standing in silence. The donor, Rama Kapoor, is expected to visit the place soon, Dedhwal said.

Dedhwal, and Jitender Kumar, a student of the Guru Nanak Engineering College, had visited Yavatmal last December on a field trip after hearing of the large number of farmers' suicides in the region.

"We were shocked to see women and children trudging with vessels on their heads for 8-10 km for collecting drinking water from wells or polluted water sources in the forests," Kumar told IANS.

They assured the villagers that they would do something for them and returned to Ludhiana.

"We formed the 'Friends of Vidarbha Club' in our city and appealed to our students, colleagues and others for donations. People started chipping in as per their capacity and we collected around Rs.200,000, including Rama Kapoor's generous donation," Dedhwal said.

Armed with the financial resources, last week they travelled over 1,500 km from Ludhiana to Yavatmal and identified four villages in dire need of water.

They are: Kundi, Ambazari, Hivara, all falling in the Zari sub-district and Nandgaon in the Kelapur sub-district.

Local contractors were hired to drill tube-wells in each of these parched villages and struck water at average depths of 400 feet, since it is the height of summer and monsoons have eluded the region so far, Kumar said.

"Besides, we have installed submersible pumps, electric motors, and connecting pipelines at strategic locations in these tiny hamlets to enable people get ample water daily," Dedhwal explained.

Each tubewell cost in the range of Rs.50,000, all inclusive, and the last bit of the work was completed Monday evening, Dedhwal told IANS.

"We are happy that we could fulfil our promise of bringing drinking water to the doorsteps of these villagers and hope that we are able to do more," said a pleased but weary Dedhwal.

Fortunately, the Friends of Vidarbha Club has got the endorsement of a leading medico and social worker, Shantakumar Verma, and donations are still coming.

"So, after collecting sufficient funds, on our next trip, we plan to construct a small hospital for the benefit of the tribals here as they badly need good medicare," both Kumar and Dedhwal said.

The duo admitted that this would require huge funds but were confident that the people of Ludhiana and other parts of Punjab would chip in for the noble venture.

Suresh Bolanwar, a local villager who is also coordinating the project, said that this is the first time people have seen water in such abundance right next to their homes.

"For decades our story has been the same. During monsoon, we collect rainwater flowing from the roofs, small streams and seasonal rivers and, after monsoons, walk up to 10 km to collect water for our daily basic needs," Bolanwar said.

He said that the Nandgaon tubewell, dedicated to Monu Kapoor, has virtually become a pilgrim place and people are coming from other hamlets to collect water from it, considering it to be holy water.

Local NGO Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti chief Kishore Tiwari said that the organization (VJAS) had raised the issue of malnourishment and starvation among the Kolam and other tribes in the region, problems of water scarcity and related issues with the Bombay High Court, Nagpur Bench, in 2001.

Later, a team of the National Human Rights Commission visited the region and promised to initiate necessary steps with the state government, but nothing has happened so far, Tiwari said.

(Quaid Najmi can be contacted at q.najmi@ians.in)

Maharashtra Govt. and CICR Admits Bt.cotton Failure

“Maharashtra Govt. and CICR initiative to test Non-BT cotton seed in Vidarbha” is admission of Bt.cotton failure - Vidarbha Janandolan Samiti

Nagpur -21^st June 2012

Vidarbha cotton farmers’ advocacy group Vidarbha Janandolan Samiti (VJAS) has welcomed the move of Central Institute of Cotton Research (CICR) and The Maharashtra government to implement a pilot project titled as the Brazilian model of Non-Bt.cotton promotion in eight districts of Vidarbha region to start cultivation of straight varieties of cotton in place of hybrid or Bt (Genetically-Modified) ones, the government appears to be doing a rethink over its policy of promoting Bt cotton  which confirm complete failure of Bt.cotton seed technology but such project will be futile when  nearly 90% of the area under cotton in India is under Bt varieties which cover around 12 million hector and any trial 160 acres of land belonging to 160 farmers in this region will be difficult to give desired result hence we demand complete ban Bt.cotton cultivation in dry land region of vidarbha  to make compulsory for cotton farmers’ to cultivate non-Bt straight indigenous varieties which are proven for hundreds of years Kishor Tiwari of vidarbha advocacy group Vidarbha Janandolan Samiti (VJAS.) informed today .

“Vidarbha is agrarian crisis is directly linked with as all farmer suicide prone district mono crop  which is predominantly cultivated is Bt.cotton since 2005 and now State agriculture commissioner Umakant Dangat officially admitted that  India has the lowest cotton productivity in the world and Maharashtra, the lowest in India and union agriculture  minister  Mr Sharad Pawar own admission that vidarbha dry land farmers are losing more than Rs.2000 crore per year since introduction of Bt.cotton seed in vidarbha,  is proven fact that it’s classic example  of promoting wrong technology  to wrong class agrarian community as rain sensitive crop has proven killer seed in west vidarbha as 95% farmers opted this technology are dry land farmers ” Tiwari added.

 

“We are shocked to see statement of Central Institute of Cotton Research (CICR) Director Keshav Kranthi who was instrumental to lunch Desi-Bt.cotton seed which left ICAR red-faced when fact surfaced that it was stolen technology Monsanto now claiming   that the cost of seeds of straight varieties is much lower than Bt varieties, besides which these varieties become ready for plucking in just 150-160 days whereas BT varieties take around 180-200 days, which reduces the need for fertilizers, pesticides and other nutrients substantially. And unlike Bt cotton varieties, seeds derived from straight cotton varieties can be used during the next season where as same Central Institute of Cotton Research (CICR) and The Maharashtra government to introduce Bt.cotton seed resulting nearly 9,000 cotton growing farmers suicide due to Bt.cotton failure  since June 2005  hence we demand that Government must come clean on Bt cotton and admit that policy of promoting Bt cotton in the rain-fed areas was wrong, which prompted farmers to commit suicide across the country” Tiwari said.

‘We need long term planning to develop proven to crop pattern and methodology   not trial project of imported technology where as neighboring Andhra Pradesh cotton  farmers have adopted NPM practices in nearly 3.5 lakh acres, across different crops. Net returns of farmers are increasing and time has come go back to our traditional sustainable agriculture not MNC base input driven” Tiwari added