The wettest belt in Marathwada : agriculture is still in a crisis.

The Padayatra (www.greenearthconsulting.org/padayatraprogress.htm) crossed the Godavari, also called Ganga by the locals on its way into Parbhani district. The Padayatra reached the village Dhanora Kale after a well deserved day of rest (1st January) and reflection.

This is arguably the wettest patch in Marathwada. The mighty Godavari, flows almost perennially through this region. The left canal of the Jaikwadi dam reaches out to the villages in the area. Dhanora Kale has actually NO DRINKING WATER PROBLEMS… over 25% of the land is irrigated… the land is fertile and the black cotton soil actually goes down upto 60 feet before hitting stone… people are not hungry but they are hapless… this is the way we see it …

The landless labourers do not see anyway of coming out of the trap of surviving on the edge. Most of them are in subtle (and in some cases overt) bondage and manage to earn just enough to keep body and soul together.. nothing more… that is the way the system keeps them on the edge..

Small farmers are exploited at all turns… sometimes one feels that small farmers are like mere objects of exploitation… getting an update in the 7/12 (land record) costs Rs. 15/- in bribes… bank officers will not release any payment (sugarcane, cotton or compensation for natural calamities) without a cut, pesticide and fertiliser dealers mark up prices by 28% for items bought on credit… one could go on… but you must have got the point…

Even large farmers are staggering under debt… every farmer of the 500 we met in Dhanora Kale has mortgaged his (women don’t own land in this highly feudal and patriarchal area) land and has a loan outstanding..

Women and children don’t really matter in the overall scheme of things!!! they have no voice and a substandard quality of life… girls (even 8 year old) get married off early… women go out only for work and nothing else… education standards and access is abysmal…

One could go on about the situation but that is not the point… we need to look at the root causes of the illness in society… We feel that some of the main cause of these issues are

· Almost complete absence of any form of just and fair governance.
· Lack of knowledge and even access to knowledge.
· Unreasonable and unfair policies of government.
· A scattered and un-empowered society.
The question to be asked is when are we going to think of changing this? If we wait for much longer… it will be too late… even in the land of the mighty Godavari… the time to act is NOW…