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Distressed over dried up crop, farmer sets paddy field on fire
In Short
Had cultivated paddy on five acres, investing significant labour and capital
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Distressed over dried up crop, farmer sets paddy field on fire
Nizamabad: In a poignant reminder of the acute water shortage plaguing agricultural pockets in the state, a farmer in Nizamabad district set fire to his dried-up paddy crop on his five-acre land after failing to secure adequate irrigation water for his standing crop.
The farmer, Kandi Ramulu, a resident of Paidipally village in Varni mandal, had cultivated paddy on five acres, investing significant labor and capital. However, severe water stress over the past few weeks caused the crop to wither rapidly just as it reached the final stages of maturation.
According to Ramulu, the crop required just two more wetting rounds (tadus) to yield a full harvest. “If the crop had received water for just two more rounds, it would have been ready for harvesting. Watching the labor of months go waste right before my eyes was unbearable,” he said, visibly distressed.
Unable to come to terms with the loss, Ramulu set fire to the parched crop himself. It is not the story of only Ramulu who is facing shortage of water to irrigate his fields. Farmers across the State are facing same water crisis driven by deficient monsoon rainfall, El Niño conditions, and rapidly shrinking reservoir and groundwater levels. With the deficient rainfall this year and drying water reservoirs, officials are facing difficulty in providing drinking water, and households are also distressed over depleting groundwater level.
In such a situation, a farmer who depends on rains or irrigation water supplied by the irrigation projects, which are not receiving inflows this year, it is a matter of life and death for him.
Expressing deep anguish over the devastation, aggrieved Ramulu urged the State government to immediately intervene, assess the loss, and sanction suitable financial compensation. He warned that in the absence of government assistance, he would be left with no recourse but to end his life.
