Farmers in all eight districts of Marathwada region fear worse days are ahead of them because there were absolutely no rains in July and the dry spell has continued through most of August.
Shakultalabai Kunde, a small farmer of Nimgaon in Aurangabad, lost her entire cotton crop as there was no rain. Now, her family members and relatives are preparing their fields for the Rabi crops with a hope that showers will come to their rescue.
Similarly, another farmer, Balu Anna Thengade, lost his entire maize crop on her 7-acre field. He had taken loan to purchase seeds. But now, he has no money to buy seeds again.
The deputy divisional commissioner (revenue) Madhukar Raje Ardad said the average annual rainfall of the region was 779 mm. But till August 12, this year only 211 mm rainfall was recorded.
“How can I feed my family of five and repay the loan?” he said, adding that now only government aid can bring him out of his problems.
Santosh Wavare, a farmer of Gangapur tahsil, said the absence of rainfall for a month had destroyed the entire kharif crops including maize, cotton, soyabean, bajra, toor and moong. Besides, it has jeopardised the sugarcane yield, as less than 50% rains were reported this year.
Also, lack of rains has caused a decline in the ground water level in some parts of Nanded, Hingoli, Jalna and Aurangabad districts. About 95% wells and borewells do not have water. The small and medium rivers have also dried up, said Balu Shankar Patil, a farmer in Hadgaon tahsil of Nanded district.
The availability of drinking water and fodder for the cattle has also become scarce, said Bhanu Tatyarao Tribhavan of Hingoli district.
Incidentally, there are 56 medium and 492 small irrigation dams whose water storage capacity is 1733.49 million cubic meter. Until last Wednesday, there was only 97.79 million cubic water in these dams, which is only 6% of their total capacity. The drinking water for 501 villages and 264 hamlets is being provided through 603 tankers.
