This Article is From Aug 25, 2015

Even Without A Drought, How Farmers in Madhya Pradesh Are Losing Their Crop

Villagers from Dewas district's Hathpipaliya tehsil claim that thousands of bighas of soybean crop have been damaged in almost two dozen villages.

Dewas: While the farmers in states like Maharashtra and Karnataka are being punished with a drought-like situation, in the Dewas district of Madhya Pradesh, it is excessive rain that has destroyed huge swathes of soybean crop.

This is the second consecutive year that the farmers are facing losses in soybean crop.

In Amlataz village, 38-year-old farmer Harendra Singh Jadav has no option but to feed his livestock the soybean plants after excess rain at the critical 'flowering period' led to a low quality yield.

Harendra, who still awaits government compensation for last year's crop damage, is now under a debt of Rs 1 lakh and is bracing himself for difficult days ahead.

"There is no help for the farmer. We never get adequate compensation. Once I got Rs 1,000 as compensation after I lost an entire crop," he says.

Villagers from Dewas district's Hathpipaliya tehsil claim that thousands of bighas of soybean crop have been damaged in almost two dozen villages.

After they launched a protest demanding compensation last week, the administration had assured an assessment of crop damage soon. That process is yet to start, they say.

Mukesh Thakur, a farmer and a panchayat member from the Amlataz village, says, "The problem is that officials do not come to remote villages like ours. Last year also we were assured compensation and we got nothing. The insurance companies say they will give us claims if the crop in the entire area is damaged and don't entertain our individual claims."

The district administration however denies an official apathy. The survey of damaged crops has already started, they say.

Collector Ashutosh Awasthi says, "The issue is not that big. You must have met 10 farmers with that you cannot conclude that the problem is widespread."
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