In Marathwada, drought forces farmers to sell cattle

The drought this year has forced farmers to resort to distress sale of their cattle. With no fodder or water for the cattle, farmers are left with little choice.

"It's been a month and a half that we have had no rain. There is just no fodder for the cattle. So I am selling a buffalo," said a farmer in the region.

Murlidhar has been making the rounds of markets, but buyers are hard to come by, so acute is the fodder scarcity. Green grass is rarely available, that too at three time the usual price.

"When grass was cheap, we used to give it cheap. Now we struggle to find fresh grass, so we sell less for the same price," said Kamalbai, a grass seller.

His pair of bullocks earned Shivaji Kadam Rs 200 a day. He used them to sow seeds. Now as crops fail, both man and animal have no job, and only a few more days of food to go.

The most critical question right now is that of availability of fodder. Soon, the farmers won't be able to feed their animals anything, and may well be forced to leave them to die.

Tags: Drought, Farmers

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