Farmers Movement Archive

Wheat harvesting a major concern

Tribune News ServicePanchkula, April 10With the onset of the wheat harvesting season, 42-year-old Gyan Singh is working at agriculture fields in Billah village near Ramgarh – long and grueling hours for Rs 200 a day.He, along with his 12 fellow labourers, harvests the crop till the sun goes down.Gyan, who used to work as a contractual labourer for sanitation work, has picked up some skills to sustain the life of his family members, like any other responsible husband and father of four kids – three daughters and a son.“Our lives have been destroyed due to the Covid outbreak. The contractor we worked for claims he is stuck in New Delhi due to the lockdown and our salary has not been released yet,” said Gyan, who hails from Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh.But the harvesting season has given him some hope. “I will get money to support my family. Something is better than nothing. It is about survival now,” he said.Gyan said he hopes to go back to his native place when the lockdown is over. “I just pray that the lockdown is not extended and things go back to normal,” he said. “Against the usual rate of around Rs 6,000 per acre, these farm labourers will get less than Rs 3,000 per acre for harvesting crops,” said a villager.Farmers cluelessShyam Lal (48), a small farmer who owns 5 acres, is clueless as to what is in the store for him. “The procurement begins on April 20. We are compelled to follow the government’s decision,” he said on whether he is struggling to harvest, sell crops during the lockdown.Fear shortage of labourMamdin (45), who has 8 acres of farm land of his own and several more acres on lease, is planning to start reaping his produce in a day or two. “Wheat is largely harvested by manual labour, not combine, as land is uneven. Hence, we require much labour for harvesting. Since the labour is in shortage this year, it poses a big challenge for us. We may have to take help from our kin and fellow villagers. The storage of harvested crop at home before the procurement process begins is also a headache as we don’t have much space. Also, transportation charges will be high,” he said.

The Tribune

2020-04-11