Water Scarcity
Our dependence on monsoons was never clearer, as Cauvery waters failed us yet again. With a delay in onset of monsoon, we had to pause the transplantation activities in the middle. Even though we have several borewell pumps on our farm, the lack of electricity wreaked havoc on our ability to irrigate even the nursery. Imagine the plight of small farmers.
Government Plans
The huge gap between allocation and sanctioning of projects and their implementation was apparent. Community nurseries were proposed in every district to help farmers overcome the irrigation issues.We were never taken up on the offering of our land for this initiative. I assume "for the records", the project was implemented fully and was a roaring success.
Loan Scheme
This seems to be the one scheme that works consistently well. I witnessed firsthand the number of small farmers and share croppers benefiting from the loans. We applied for crop loans from the Agricultural Cooperative Society as well as a nationalized bank. Certainly eased the cash flow during the time.Insurance Fiasco
With the State Government announcing that all affected farmers would be reimbursed through their crop insurance, the mad rush to register for insurance began. Since we had obtained loans for most of our lands, our crop was already insured. I did join the throngs to register a small parcel that we hadn't included in our loans.Everybody was optimistic that they would get at least some relief through the Government. However, the promised relief never materialized for anyone in the vicinity of our farming community.
Harvest and post-harvest
Harvest had to be done in two phases this year (see the first section on water scarcity). For the most part, it was pretty smooth. While not a bumper crop by any means, the yield met and slightly exceeded our expectations.We wanted to experiment with baling hay this year. We ended up wasting all our hay (worth several tens of thousands of rupees), waiting for the hay baler to show up. Lesson learned.
Because of this delay, the next sesame crop got pushed back. With moisture drying up in the ground every day, this was very unfortunate.
To Sell or Not To Sell
Every year at harvest time, we discuss the need for good storage solutions, but so far we haven't acted on it. This year was no different. After lengthy discussions on the current price, expected price in a few months, the process involved in storing paddy long term etc., we decided to sell of most of our crop to the Government - through the Mobile TNCC center.Then in a couple of months, the price went up significantly, leading us back to the discussion of building/buying a storage space.
The Bottom Line
We were in certainly in the black for this season. The food grains we stock for ourselves and direct distribution are not included in the value calculations.Every time I post to the blog, I promise myself that I will post regularly hereon. Hopefully, this time it will stick.
