Jharkhand's Unusual Drought Crisis: Farmers Left with No Paddy to Sell

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the state, which broke away from Bihar in 2000, saw the lowest rainfall in 121 years during the kharif sowing season last year. Jharkhand received slightly over 371.9 mm of rain from June 1 to August 12, 2022, a deficit of approximately 41% compared to the normal 627.6 mm rain received during the same period.

The resulting drought was devastating to farmers in 226 of 281 blocks, as the state relies significantly on monsoon rains to cover its irrigation needs. The drought also resulted in extremely low paddy procurement — the lowest in four years in terms of targets — during this year's Kharif Marketing Season (KMS), which runs from January to March. "Last year's drought was not a one-off case," said Abhishek Anand, scientist and officer in charge at IMD Ranchi. It was a result of climate change.

The weather has been gradually becoming more intense. That is why we are currently experiencing erratic rainfall. From June through August of last year, Jharkhand, Bihar, and Uttar Pradesh experienced one of the worst monsoons on record, with a roughly 50% deficit for these months." Despite reducing the original objective of 80 lakh quintals or 8 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) to 3.63 LMT for the 2022-23 KMS, the state only obtained 1.55 LMT (42.87%) of the lowered target as of March 28. Only 29,424 farmers (almost 13% of the 2.29 lakh who enrolled) attended procurement centres across Jharkhand. While Bokaro district procurement barely reached 20% of this year's objective, it was far higher than Dumka and Sahibganj, which witnessed no procurement.

As of March 28, a total of Rs 143 crore had been given to the 29,424 farmers who had come to sell their products this year. Shikha Hansda (45), a farmer from Sahibganj's Borio block, owns three bighas and supports an eight-person household. "The paddy harvest usually provides enough rice for my entire family for a year." However, due to the drought, two-thirds of the seedlings shrivelled and died last year. "I was able to harvest some paddy on one bigha because it is close to a water source, but things have been difficult because we have no other fixed source of income," she explained over the phone. Shikha responded to a question about work chances under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) by saying that there are few takers due to payment delays.

In response to this year's dismal procurement results, Food and Civil Supplies Minister Rameshwar Oraon stated, "Farmers will first keep the paddy they need to sustain their family for an entire year and then sell the excess at procurement centres." Since there was a severe drought last year, the Hemant Soren administration paid each farming family a one-time compensation of Rs 3,500 under its Drought Relief Scheme (announced in 2022)." Many farmers, however, said they had not received any compensation. Shikha stated that she had not yet received the drought relief funds and that she had placed all her hopes on this year's monsoon.

Unlike Shikha, Shriram sought compensation but said that despite repeated tries, he had received no assistance. Ajit Manjhi (33), who owns a nearly 5-bigha field in Bokaro's Gomia block, claimed he, too, had not received compensation under the drought relief scheme. "Some rain fell while one patch of seedlings was about to be transplanted." I was able to cultivate some paddy, but it is now finished. "I am now completely reliant on the PDS to meet my family's food needs," he explained. Dumka procured 1.49 LMT of paddy against a target of 1.40 LMT in the 2021-22 KMS, and farmers received Rs 30 crore for their crop.

Despite the enhanced procurement target of 50,000 quintals- three times the previous aim- The district obtained zero quintals since none of the registered 4,046 farmers attended the procurement centres. The 2021-22 KMS was a strong season for Sahebganj, with 78,000 quintals of paddy procured, approximately 20% more than the aim of 65,000 quintals. Despite the revised 2022-23 KMS objective of 25,000 quintals, none of the 1,972 enrolled farmers sold their paddy. Apart from Dumka and Sahibganj, procurement data from Godda, Deoghar, and Jamtara are also disappointing this year. Only 1,859.53 quintals (2%) of the 1 lakh quintal objective were met in Godda district, where only 79 of 14,713 registered farmers showed up at procurement centres.

In Deoghar district, just 6,777.98 quintals (3.6%) of the objective of 1.85 lakh quintals were obtained from 148 of the 8,466 enrolled farmers. Only 355 of the 4,529 registered farmers in Jamtara district sold 9,512.54 quintals of paddy (9 percent) of the procurement objective of 1 lakh quintals. Farmers have failed to show up, according to Deputy Commissioner Dumka R S Shukla, despite districts keeping procurement centres open. "This was primarily due to the fact that sowing occurred on less than 6% of the total area last year (due to drought and mono-cropping)," he explained.

Anand said of the recent rains in Jharkhand, "In August and September, significant low pressures and depressions formed in the north Bay of Bengal." These systems came into Jharkhand from the south, causing rains in the south and central districts. However, this has left north Jharkhand without rain. In 2021, these systems will cross from the centre of Jharkhand, resulting in equal rainfall over the state." Meanwhile, Prasad blamed this year's state procurement data on the transition from Decentralized Procurement (DCP) to Centralised Procurement System (CPS) or Non-Decentralized Procurement (NDP). (non-DCP).

As part of the National Food Security Act, the state purchases food grains directly and stores and distributes them under the DCP model, while the Centre reimburses the state for the total procurement expenditure. The Food Corporation of India (FCI) or the state procure food grains for the central pool under the non-DCP structure, and the corporation reimburses the cost of food grains procured by state agencies. Jharkhand used the DCP format for the KMS in 2016-17 (only for one district), 2017-18 (only for five districts), and 2018-19 (only for six districts), according to Prasad, but moved to the non-DCP model for the 2019-20 KMS.

(Inputs taken from- Indian Express)