Pune: Sixty-four-year-old Digambar Gaikwad is staring at a bleak future. Four acres of agricultural land with a yield of withered and damaged crops, drying borewells and a mounting Rs6 lakh debt are all he’s left with.“I own four acres of land, and cultivate on another eight acres of leased land. But I may have to work as a daily-wage worker to sustain my family,” the distressed farmer from Basaveshwar village, around 10km from Solapur city, told a central assessment team on Saturday.Gaikwad had invested Rs 75,000-80,000 per acre in marigold cultivation this season. However, the crop failure following a prolonged rainfall deficit has left him struggling to recover his investment.“I had cultivated marigold to sell during Dussehra, when demand is high. The plants have flowers but are completely withered. I will not be able to harvest and sell them in the market,” Gaikwad told TOI.The water crisis has compounded his losses. Of the four borewells drilled to a depth of around 300ft on his farm, three have dried up. The fourth yields water for barely 15-20 minutes.“Last year, I sold tur produce worth Rs1.5 lakh. This year, I have lost both tur and urad crops completely because I could not irrigate due to lack of water in the borewells. There has been no rainfall either. I have no other source of income,” he said.Gaikwad is also worried about repaying a loan taken from a local cooperative bank. Last year, he paid an instalment of Rs1.5 lakh, but this year, it is simply impossible, he says.A three-member central team led by Dr K Ponnuswamy, director in the Union agriculture ministry’s crops division, accompanied by state agriculture commissioner Suraj Mandhare, visited drought-affected farms in the district to assess crop damage and the severity of the agrarian crisis.Gaikwad said the team collected samples from eight acres of land he has leased and cultivated for the past few years. However, he is worried his fears may come true.“I have done all the work, including preparing the land for tur and other kharif crops and bearing the cultivation costs. But govt will provide compensation to the landowner. I may not receive any assistance,” he said.Gaikwad’s son Purshottam said govt’s immediate help is the only hope to tide over the situation somehow.“Problems are plenty and we need help,” he said.The team travelled to Sangola tehsil, where it inspected water conservation works and assessed crop losses and visited villages in Mangalwedha tehsil to assess kharif crop losses and inspect water conservation tanks, farm ponds, tanker-based water supply and agricultural wells. It also interacted with shepherds and dairy farmers to understand how drought affected livestock and allied agricultural activities.
