Parts of the State receiving light to moderate rains in the past five days has not brought any cheer to farmers, who are staring at an uncertain future because of he COVID-19 outbreak and the lockdown that is in force to curb its spread.
Summer rains and pre-monsoon showers that follow make the period when farmers hit the fields in preparation for early kharif crops. Most of this takes place under rain-fed conditions. Black gram, green gram, and cowpea cultivation are taken up extensively in many parts of the State.
The preliminary work of preparing the field entails tilling and mixing plant stubs and residue with soil to enrich it, but none of this is taking place though the time is ideal now, according to Puttamadu of the State Agriculture Workers’ Union.
Agricultural practices across the region are labour-intensive and provide direct employment to more than 70% of the workforce in rural areas. But there are uncertainties — financial and labour-related — and as a result, farmers are not taking the risk, he said. “Preparing the land entails investment, which is hard to come by, and there is no guarantee that the situation will ease in the days ahead. If the lockdown is not lifted and the pandemic outbreak shows no signs of abating, then it will be a waste of money — a risk farmers cannot afford to take,” said Badagalpura Nagendra of the Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha.
Manpower matters
Farmers are also uncertain about engaging the manpower required for the task. It is normal to deploy people from different regions as one village alone cannot provide the sufficient labour force. Landless agricultural workers used to be transported daily from different taluks and districts in tractors and trucks and hired on contract. But there are restriction on the movement of people now. Even if these curbs are lifted, people will averse to employing strangers in fear of the pandemic.
Local gram panchayats have issued fiats orally that no stranger should be entertained in any village, said Atahalli Devaraj of the sugarcane cultivators' association.
However, the Agriculture Department has directed that all Raitha Samparka Kendras to remain open and be stocked with seeds. There are inquiries pouring in from farmers about the availability of seeds as well. But whether this will translate into action on the field is uncertain.
