Big jump in soyabean area in Vidarbha -TIMES OF INDIA

 

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Big jump in soyabean area in Vidarbha

** Kishore Tiwari of Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti who had been advocating food crops instead of cash ones. Pulses like moong and urad help boost soil fertility while jowar, bajra provide food security to farmers. But ignoring all this, cash crops are still preferred," Tiwari lamented.**

Ramu Bhagwat, TNN | Jul 28, 2012, 03.52AM IST

 

NAGPUR: Amid reports of drought-like situation prevailing in 102 of the 355 talukas in Maharashtra with even sowing not taken up for kharif crops, Vidarbha region is faring better. Good rains in last one week have brought cheer to farmers. In Amravati division, of the 32 lakh hectares of cultivable land sowing was completed in 98% of the area. In Nagpur division, it has just crossed 70% mark, official sources said on Friday.

Surprisingly, soyabean cultivation has taken a big jump in western Vidarbha's districts of Yavatmal, Akola, Amravati, Washim and Buldhana - from last year's 7.93 lakh hectares to 12.9 lakh hectares this year. However, according to farm activists, shrinking area of food crops like jowar and bajra and also pulses like moong and urad is a cause of concern.

Amravati divisional joint director of agriculture Ashok Lokhande confirmed that soya crop area had gone up substantially this season. "This could be mainly because of the delayed rains. Soya crop is shorter duration of around 100 days. While cotton takes over 150 days for harvest. Early returns and high price of around Rs4000 a quintal that soya now commands could have gone in its favour for farmers who normally keep shuffling between the region's two main crops.

"Overall kharif situation is very good in Amravati division which has received its average rainfall in June as well as July," said Lokhande. In fact, heavy rains early this year, according to preliminary reports, caused damage to crop in 19,000 hectares and eroded soil in 20,746 hectares," said the senior officer. He also noted that while area under tur dal was constant at 3.80 lakh hectares, that under urad and moong had shrunk. More remarkable was shrinkage in jowar area from 4 lakh to 2 lakh hectares this time and that of bajra from 9700 hectares to a mere 2500.

"This mass shifting to soya driven by commodity exchange could cause problems later as the commodity price is sure to drop to around Rs2000 at harvest time three months from now," said Kishore Tiwari of Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti who had been advocating food crops instead of cash ones. Pulses like moong and urad help boost soil fertility while jowar, bajra provide food security to farmers. But ignoring all this, cash crops are still preferred," Tiwari lamented.

In Nagpur division, of the 18 lakh hectares total cultivable land, sowing has been completed on 12.25 lakh hectares. Here, there is an increase in cotton area, up from expected 2.11 lakh hectares to 4.3 lakh hectares. Soya has been sowed on 5.10 lakh hectares compared to 6.28 lakh hectares last year. Tur has been sowed in 1.52 lakh, slight increase from last time. More rains are needed for paddy transplantation, said an official.

Maharashtra farmers urged PM to sack Sharad Pawar

Maharashtra cotton farmers urged PM to sack Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar

Nagpur-24^th July 2012

The 3 million vidarbha cotton farmers who are reeling under agrarian crisis and drought has reacted very strongly on recent on going boycott of  Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar to the very important meeting with Agriculture secretary on alert over a deficient monsoon, directing ministries to help states facing drought-like situations by taking urgent steps to put  contingency plans to distribute seeds, augment fodder and power and deal with drinking water shortages when Indian  Prime minister Manmohan Singh went ahead asking agriculture secretary to gear up plans to fight the impending drought situation particularly in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Karnataka, if the monsoon does not revive, this is height of   blackmailing the coalition partner when country need  functional Agriculture Minister and part-time one hence we urge PM to replace Sharad Pawar with sensitive and responsible  fulltime dedicated non-corrupt to handle delayed rain and damage to crops , Vidarbha Janandolan Samiti, President, Kishor Tiwari informed in a press release today.

‘In fact India's Agri. Minister and NCP Supreme Sharad Pawar is totally responsible for on going cotton growers suicides in cotton belt of vidarbha since June 2005 and failure of all relief packages to stop on going farmers as money given to for irrigation project has been siphoned out by NCP Ministers and his party men direct involvement and action initiated by Maharashtra chief minister is reason of on going blackmail pressure tactics but his larger role in mass genocide of more than 10,000 cotton farmers in granting mass commercial production permission to Genetic Modified Bt. Cotton of USA base company Monsanto in vidarbha .when farmers were committing suicides since 2005 most of time India's Agri. Minister and NCP Supreme Sharad Pawar was in cricket and he never visited a single household even when PM visited vidarbha hence his immediate removal will give certain relief dying vidrabha cotton farmers’ Tiwari added. 

VJAS has claimed that these farmers’ suicides are innocent victims of Govt. Policies from which NCP Supreme Sharad Pawar is responsible as his NCP Party Ministers are involved in all mega scams in Maharashtra which are surfaced and are in focus today hence his recent pressure tactics has exposed him but PM and Congress should not concede hostile demands and it’s right to get rid of killers of innocent vidarbha farmers’, Tiwari added.

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As Prez. Pratibhatai Patil Disappointed Thousands Vidarbha Farm Widows

As Prez. Pratibhatai  Patil  Disappointed Thousands Vidarbha Farm Widows

Nagpur -23^rd July 2012

Most veteran Congress leader Pratibhatai  Patil who is from Maharashtra and is spending  her and her family members  political career  from worst agrarian crisis hit and known as farmers suicide capital vidarbha when became the first woman President of India ,it was expected that healing touch will be given starving thousands of farm widows and kids of the farmers who committed suicides in last decade but  unfortunately, in her five-year term that healing touch was missing as before stepping down from office Dr.APJ Kalam visited Yavatmal (vidarbha) in July 2007 and has special meeting with vidarbha farm widows and wrote series of letter to Govt. for attending the issues raised by from widows but next year December 2008 visited same place Yavatmal (vidarbha) but failed to give 5 minutes time dying vidarbha farm widows but even after five years now she is stepping down today but thousands of vidarbha farm widows  who are demanding ‘Right to live ’ since 2001 are disappointment as our  Pratibhatai  Patil fails to give justice to dying farming community of her homeland vidarbha, Aparna Malikar (09689184642) (farm widows appeared in KBC last year) .secretary vidarbha farm widows association (WFWA) informed in press release today .

‘When I wrote regarding unjust and atrocities done to me by my in-laws ,till date I have not received acknowledgement my letter .we have been demanding basic rights of food security ,land ownership ,education to our daughter and family pensions to starving thousands of farm widows but all pending with state Govt., then we thought  Pratibhatai  Patil will take the issue but nothing happened in last five years hence we are deeply hurt and disappointed ’Malikar added.

‘‘we supported as prez but unfortunately Pratibhatai  Patil was always locked in one or another controversies and it was not case she has not visited Maharashtra in last five years in fact though there is no rule, it has been convention that a President visits the home state not more than six times a year, she has visited double trips as per convention but not to look in to the problem of people but to live with grand children in Pune ,we hope now she will take up issue of thousands of Vidrabha Farm Widows  to give healing touch to millions of distressed agrarian community of her homeland Vidarbha ”Kishor Tiwari Vidarbha Janandolan Samiti farmers activist group working for welfare of farm widows urged retiring  Indian prez. today.

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Truant monsoon claims three more vidarbha farmers’ suicides in 48 hrs

Truant monsoon claims three more vidarbha farmers’ suicides in 48 hrs

Nagpur-21^st July 2012

The erratic progress of the monsoon and failure second  times sowing of rain sensitive Bt.cotton seed has claimed three distressed farmers from Vidarbha commit suicide in the last 48 hours alone and ill fated farmers whose cases reported are identified as

1.Dhyaneshwar Golhar of village ashti in Yavatmal

2.Subhash Todase of village Mira in Yavatmal

3.Ravindra Hule of village Wadegoan in Akola

More than 3 million cotton farmers who are credit starved and delayed rain has already damaged more than 25%  kharif  yield and  rains are delayed further, there could be a sharp increase in the tally of farmers’ suicides in Vidarbha from 438 from January this year, Kishore Tiwari of Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti informed in press release today

 “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 then we got heavy rain in first week of July forcing  dry land cotton farmers second sowing but this time too, They were forced to watch the heat scorch both their freshly resown crop and recent dry spell and when their re-sowing has been lost ,debt trapped and distressed farmers are killing themselves ”Tiwari added.

Tiwari takes umbrage at Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar’s comment who is busy in power sharing and protecting the corrupt NCP Ministers, 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.

विदर्भात ६० टक्के शेतकरी पीक कर्जापासून वंचित-सरकारी अनुदान वाटपासाठी राजरोसपणे खंडणी- शेतकरयांना जबरीने विमा पॉलिसी घेण्याची सक्ती

विदर्भात ६० टक्के शेतकरी पीक कर्जापासून वंचित-सरकारी अनुदान वाटपासाठी राजरोसपणे खंडणी- शेतकरयांना जबरीने विमा पॉलिसी घेण्याची सक्ती

 यवतमाळ, १९ जुलै 

यवतमाळ जिल्ह्यातील शेतकरयांवर दुबार पेरणीचे संकट आले असताना व अर्धा खरीप हंगाम झाला असताना सरकारी बँकांनी ५५० कोटींपैकी फक्त१८० कोटी रुपये पीककर्ज रूपाने वाटप केले असून, सहकारी बँकांनी पिककर्जाच्या नावावर खांदेपालट करताना शेतकरयांकडून ५ टक्के रक्कम अवैधपणे वसूल केल्याच्या तक्रारी आल्या आहेत. जिल्हाधिकारयांनी बोलावलेल्या यापूर्वीच्या सर्व बैठकांचा कोणताही परिणाम दिसून येत नसून, जिल्हाधिकारयांचे आदेश मिळाल्यानंतर राष्ट्रीयकृत बँका सक्तीने पीककर्ज न देण्याचे धोरण राबवित आहे. या उलट ज्या बँका शेतकरयांना व महिला बचत गटांना पीककर्ज देण्याचे कबूल करीत आहेत ते त्यांना खाजगी विमा कंपन्यांच्या महागड्या पॉलिसी काढण्यास सक्ती करीत आहे. जे शेतकरी व महिला बचत गटाचे सदस्य जीवन किवा आरोग्य विमा काढत नाहीत, त्यांना पीक कर्ज नाकारण्यात येत आहे. बँक ऑफ महाराष्ट्र झरी येथील शाखा व्यवस्थापकांनी पीककर्ज वाटपासाठी स्वत:चे नियम लावले असून, आपल्याच मर्जीने अनेक गावे काळ्या यादीत टाकली आहेत, तर सरकारी बँकांच्या पीककर्ज न देण्याच्या धोरणाचा परिणाम म्हणून यवतमाळ जिल्ह्यात ३० टक्के जमीन यावर्षी लागवडीपासून वंचित राहण्याचे गंभीर संकट निर्माण झाले. पीककर्ज वाटपाच्या समस्येवर मुख्यमंत्र्यांनी तोडगा काढावा, अशी मागणी विदर्भ जनआंदोलन समितीचे नेते किशोर तिवारी यांनी केली आहे. 

मागील ४० दिवसांपासून सरकारने यावर्षी घोषित केलेली नापिकीग्रस्त शेतकरयांना अनुदानात्मक मदत सहकारी बँकांच्या खात्यात जमा झाली आहे. परंतु, फक्त३० टक्के शेतकरयांनाच या मदतीचे वाटप झाले आहे. यवतमाळ जिल्हा मध्यवर्ती सहकारी बँक, शाखा फुलसावंगी येथील व्यवस्थापक विनायक जाधव हे ग्राहकांशी असभ्य वर्तवणूक करीत आहेत. उद्धट व अपमानास्पद वागणूक देत आहे. पैसे देणारयांचे विड्रॉल रात्री ८ वाजतासुद्धा होतात. पैसे न दिल्यास विड्रॉलसाठी ताटकळत उभे राहावे लागत असल्याचा बळीराम राठोड, चरण राठोड, भारत पवार, देविदास राठोड, उत्तम राठोड, भिकू जाधव, रघुराज पांडे, सुरेश राठोड आदी शेतकरयांचा आरोप आहे. तालुक्यातील कास्तकार २० ते २५ किलोमीटर अंतराहून जमेल तसे येतात व दिवसभर ताटकळत उभे राहून निराश होऊन परत जातात. जो पैसे देतो त्याचे लगेच काम होत आहे. या सर्व प्रकारांमुळे शेतकरयांना प्रचंड मानसिक त्रास सहन करावा लागत असून, शेतीची सर्व कामे यामुळे खोळंबली आहेत. या सर्व प्रकरणांची जिल्हाधिकारयांनी फौजदारी चौकशी करावी, अशी तक्रार विदर्भ जनआंदोलन समितीने केली आहे.

RIGHT TO FOOD AGITATION -ZARI(YAVATMAL)-17TH JULY

NRI opens free training centre for farm widows, children=TIMES OF INDIA

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NRI opens free training centre for farm widows, children

TNN | Jul 16, 2012, 03.07AM IST

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/nagpur/NRI-opens-free-training-centre-for-farm-widows-children/articleshow/14970627.cms?prtpage=1

YAVATMAL: Moved by the plight of farm widows and their children in Vidarbha, Oman-based technocrat Krishnakumar Taori on Saturday started a computer training centre at village Ghuikhed from where he belongs. The distressed persons would be taught free to fight the agrarian crisis.

The centre, set up in memory of his mother Kamlabai Taori in which children of farmers studying in standards VIII to XII and farm widows would be given training, was inaugurated by member of Parliament from Akola Sanjay Dhotre at Ghuikhed, near Chandur Bazar. Former MLA Arun Adsad was present. President of Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti Kishore Tiwari spoke about the need for opening more such centres which is expected to seek expertise of Yavatmal-based Vidyadeep Sansthan headed by lawyer Shivaji Gade.

Technocrat's father Dr Badridas Taori recalled his contribution to the health care of the poor and the needy, saying he resigned from a permanent job in the health department from the then Madhya Pradesh and returned to Ghuikhed to serve the people.

Dhotre lauded the noble cause of setting up the free training centre so that the poor children could get computer knowledge. He urged children to become self-sufficient.

Adsad highlighted the benefits of computer and Internet and urged students to join the training centre.

Krishnakumar Taori spoke of the plans to set up an ITI in the village so that youths could get training in various technical trades and promote establishment of small industrial units to earn livelihood.

Ghuikhed, which comes under the submergence area of Bhembla river irrigation project, has a population of 8,000. The government has already acquired the land. Though alternative plots and compensation were given to the affected, the villagers are yet to be shifted.

Krishnakumar said he would try to rehabilitate maximum number of suicide-hit farmers' families on long-term basis and hoped the training centre having five batches of 18 students each would help meet the goal.

Gajanan Sonone conducted the function while VJAS general secretary Mohan Jadhav proposed a vote of thanks.