Bitter harvest for India’s paddy farmers

Ran Singh, a farmer from Haryana’s Sirsa district, reached the Rodi grain market on 1 October with his harvest of paddy. For the next two days, he waited patiently for his turn at the government procurement centre. When it finally came, officials told him his produce contained far too much moisture and needed drying. In short, it was rejected.

Determined not to lose his crop, Ran Singh spread the paddy out under the sun each morning. Every evening, he repacked it into sacks. That corner of the market was where he stayed day and night, guarding his precious produce. On 6 October, heavy rains triggered by a western disturbance lashed the region. The Rodi grain market was flooded and a quarter of Ran Singh’s sacks were submerged. The bulk of the paddy rotted instantly, the rest was discoloured. A single downpour washed all his hopes and hard work away.

Speaking to National Herald, Jasbir Singh, a farmer leader from Punjab’s Mansa district, said while the problem of excessive moisture in paddy is a recurring one, this year’s heavy rainfall and flooding has made it far worse. The soil in the fields is still wet. Punjab’s grain markets are struggling with a severe shortage of space to store or dry the harvested paddy.

Farmers are now loading the crop directly from combine harvesters into sacks and taking it to market. The fresh grain with its high moisture content is being rejected everywhere.

Transporting the crop back home is too costly, and drying it in the fields is nigh impossible because the soil is soggy. Taking advantage of this situation, traders lie in wait outside the markets and buy grain from desperate farmers at throwaway prices.

This year, the government’s minimum support price (MSP) for paddy is Rs 2,389 per quintal. However, according to Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Dharmendra Malik, traders in Uttar Pradesh are purchasing paddy from distressed farmers at just Rs 1,500–Rs 1,700 per quintal.

Malik told National Herald that he has written to Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath, demanding a ban on such procurement outside official markets. So far, there has been no response.

Reports of distress sales are pouring in from almost every state, with traders profiting from farmers’ losses. Moisture has always been a critical factor in government procurement of paddy, which matures during the monsoon and requires content. Notably, none of the BJP-ruled states have made such requests.

Ironically, Punjab — which is among the worst-hit states this year — is yet to receive any relief. Last month, chief minister Bhagwant Mann assured farmers that their losses would be addressed, but in reality, cultivators continue to sell their paddy dirt cheap.

Nearly five lakh acres of farmland were ravaged in the Punjab floods. Government estimates indicate that crops on three lakh acres were completely destroyed, while remaining areas suffered extensive damage.

Even in regions that escaped the worst of the flooding, farmers are struggling with sharp losses. According to a report in The Tribune, continuous heavy rainfall in late August and early September has significantly reduced paddy yields.

Punjab usually records yields of 27 to 32 quintals per acre during the kharif season. This year, the average has fallen to between 23 and 25 quintals. An official who oversees procurement operations in Ropar noted that in some areas, the yield has dropped as low as 20 quintals per acre.

These figures are based on paddy with high moisture content; once the grain is dried, the actual yield is expected to be even lower. Jasbir Singh estimates that overall yields have declined by 15 to 20 per cent.

Even farmers who grow premium varieties like basmati rice — and therefore don’t depend on government procurement — have not been spared. Most of Punjab’s basmati crop is cultivated along the river Ravi which wiped out a large part of the harvest when it burst its banks.

When Baljinder Singh, who grows the premium Pusa-1509 basmati, brought his crop to the Amritsar market, he expected higher returns this season because of reduced yield. Instead, he was forced to sell his paddy at Rs 800 less per quintal than last year. The usual laws of supply and demand seem to have been upended by Punjab’s floods.

According to Dr Sunilam, a farmer leader from Madhya Pradesh, what is unfolding in the markets is not new. “This time, it is excess moisture, but every year, new excuses are made to reject farmers’ produce. It’s a practice carried out in collusion with traders.”

The crisis unfolding across India’s grain markets is a stark reminder of how vulnerable farmers still are to forces beyond their control — both natural and institutional. The combination of unseasonal rains, rigid procurement norms and opportunistic traders has turned this harvest season into one of despair.

Why can’t the FCI or procurement agencies make provisions to facilitate the drying of crops? The reluctance and refusal of the government to do so hints at collusion with traders so that farmers see no way out other than distress sales.

While governments promise compensation and relief — usually delayed, inadequate, or both — what farmers need most is a system flexible enough to respond to climate disruptions and fair enough to protect them from exploitation. Until that happens, every extreme weather event will continue to destroy not just crops, but also the futures of those who grow them.