Debt-ridden melon farmers in Satna fall through the cracks; govt has no record of such cultivators

About 300 farmers cultivate melons on 600 hectares in the alluvium of Bakia Barrage, a dam in Madhya Pradesh’s Satna district. They were ready to harvest this year when the Tauktae and Yaas cyclones struck.

Sachin Tulsa Tripathi
| Updated: June 16th, 2021

Satna, Madhya Pradesh

Farmer Annu Devi Saket’s eyes turn moist when she speaks about her melon crop. A resident of  Bakiya Bailo village in Satna district, she invested Rs 125,000 for this year’s crop and hoped to make double that in earnings. And then, the Tauktae and Yaas cyclones struck last month causing heavy rainfall in large parts of the country, including her home state Madhya Pradesh.

“Now, it looks like making even five or ten thousand rupees will be a challenge. Those who lent us money are harassing us too,”  58-year-old Devi told Gaon Connection.

“We will not be able to recover our investment. My husband, two of our sons, and I worked on the crop, and our daughters-in-law helped too. We hired six to seven workers too and our crop was doing well till the cyclones destroyed it. We must pay the money back, but are wondering how to do it,” Devi rued.

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As per the rainfall data of the India Meteorological Department (IMD), May 2021 has been the second wettest May month in the past 121 years. “Rainfall over India during the month of May was second highest since 1901. The highest rainfall occurred in the year 1990 (110.7mm),” the IMD said in its monthly report for May. 

Impact of this heavy rainfall last month is being felt by farmers like Devi.

About 300 farmers cultivate melons on 600 hectares in the alluvium of Bakia Barrage, a dam in Satna district. All photos: Sachin Tulsa Tripathi

Farming by the Bakia dam 

The Bakia Barrage Dam is located on the Tons river in the Rampur region of Satna district. Farmers in dozens of villages, including Bakia Tivarian, Kandwa, Deori, Golhata and Thathora, grow seasonal fruits and vegetables during the summer in the alluvium of this dam. This also  provides work to about 300 families. The melon that grows here is said to be delicious, and is a popular crop among farmers.

However, in May, massive rains after the Tauktae and Yaas cyclones washed away the alluvium, destroying ready-to-harvest crop in hundreds of hectares.

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During the months of December and January, water levels in the dam recede, leaving around 3,000 acres [1,214 hectares] of highly fertile alluvium behind. 

“For five years now, some farmers have been growing melons and watermelons here, while others grow vegetables on the remaining 1,500 acres. Harvesting goes on from March to June,” 52-year-old Virendra Tiwari, a farmer from Bakia village, 45 kilometres from Satna district headquarters, told Gaon Connection.

Abundant crop ruined

This year’s melon crop was abundant in the Bakiya Dam basin. However, since mandis remained shut due to the lockdown, the produce could not be sold. The cyclones only added to the farmers’ misery.

“Approximately 70 per cent of the crop was destroyed in the fields. The melon rotted because the water did not recede. Fruit, which would typically sell for twenty rupees a kilo in the wholesale market, was sold for just five rupees,” said melon farmer Amit Tiwari.

“Our children as young as five toiled in the field,” 35-year-old farmer Monu Saket told Gaon Connection. “But, the returns are not proportionate to the work put in. The rain saw the prices of melons crash to five rupees a kilo. Earlier in the season, we sold it for twenty rupees a kilo. The lockdown damaged our chance to sell the fruit too — the fruit remained in the field for several days,” he added.

Massive rains after the Tauktae and Yaas cyclones washed away the alluvium, destroying ready-to-harvest crop in hundreds of hectares.

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Repaying debts

Many farmers had taken loans from banks and local moneylenders for farming melons. Tiwari, for instance, has been cultivating melons for two years, and has suffered due to the pandemic and the lockdown.

“We are locked in a debt trap. Even the bank was not willing to lend us money. We had to borrow from a moneylender at an exorbitant 24 per cent interest per annum. Last year, the Corona crisis struck just as we were about to sell our produce. This year’s scenario is no different. We are unable to figure out how to feed our children,” Tiwari said.

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Kulpati Singh, a 35-year-old farmer from Bakia Bailo, purchased a tractor costing Rs 800,000 last year, with a half-yearly payment of Rs 70,000 each. “If the business was okay, repaying this would not be a problem, but I am struggling to make ends meet,” said Singh.

“We usually cultivate melons on four to five acres [about two hectares] and earn between two and three lakhs. Selling the melons would have given us some money to pay the instalments. Now, how am I going to repay the loan?” asked  Virendra Tiwari from the same hamlet.

Virendra Tiwari had planned to purchase a tractor from the income from selling muskmelon. “But, we can’t afford the tractor right now, since we’re struggling to settle our old debts,” he explained to Gan Connection.

Farmers harvest crops in this land just before the onset of the monsoon. The requirement for water is less and if the weather is favourable, they make some money,  but there is always the risk of rain and cyclone that can damage the crops. In fact, such cultivation has not even been part of official statistics in many areas.

300 families in the lurch

“Farmers from Bakia and neighbouring villages do not cultivate melon or watermelon in their own fields. As a result, melon production is not reflected in the official records. These farmers grow this fruit only in the dam’s basin,” Anil Singh, Satna’s deputy director, horticulture, told Gaon Connection.

Read the original in Hindi here.