Forty-year-old Bhosale has about 10 acres of land, where he grew bajra last year; no sowing has happened this year. Like many in Maan taluka, which is already a scarcity-prone region, he said this year’s drought is the worst he’s seen, even compared to the severe drought of 1972.

Farmers here say that while there was always some rain in the previous drought years, this year there has been almost none, even during the sowing period. Maan and the nearby Katav tehsil are among the 221 tehsils that have been declared as “pre-drought” areas.

“Around these parts, there is some rain till June which helps the sowing. This year, there has been 14 mm rain since the arrival of monsoons. Not even one hectare has been sown. The borewells have gone down to 500 ft, the groundwater is still scarce. Last year, the productivity was over 1.5 times of the normal harvest. This year none is expected,” says the taluka agriculture officer of the Maan tehsil, Rajendra Mane.

Out of 1.5 lakh hectares, just over 73,000 hectares are arable, he said. The tehsil faced a similar situation in 2003-04. But that time, Mane said, rains had been good in Konkan and other regions. Dams were not short on water, electricity supply was there, and water could be transported to Maan. “Now that hope is also not there. There can be no kharif crop this year,” he said.

In the nearby Mograle village, Aba Mahadev Shingade is desperate. “Marata yet nahi, manoon jagachachi (Don’t know how to die, therefore we live),” he said, looking at his 10 hectares that he has been farming for the last 40 years. “We have nothing left to do. Drinking water arrives in tankers once in five days, a bath these days is a dream, water for farming an impossibility. If the rains do not come in a week, there is no hope for the next crop as well.”

A wait is on for July 31, when a decision is expected to be taken on declaring a drought. It is only after this that ‘chavni’ or fodder camps will materialise.

“A fortnight ago, my Jersey cow gave birth to a calf. I cannot afford the extra fodder to feed her as well her mother. The calf consumes 2 litres of milk every day, which sets me back by Rs 20. Soon, I will pack her off to the butcher,” said Jagdale K V, owner of 10 acres, with tears in his eyes.

For a month now, at least one vehicle has been leaving the tehsil every day carrying cattle for the butchers. “The cooperatives buy sugarcane from the farmers at Rs 600 a quintal. The same sugarcane costs the farmers Rs 2,000 a quintal when bought as fodder and it lasts a fortnight. Everybody wants to sell their cattle, but there are no buyers other than the butchers. Almost everyone is getting rid of the calves and the older cattle,” he said.

In Phaltan tehsil of Satara too, most of the farmers like Vilas Sampath Gaikwad, who have lost hopes of reaping a crop this season, are worried for their cattle. He had sown bajra on his two acres. Good rains would have ensured that the saplings were a foot-long now. But that was not to be. “They have barely sprouted. We will have to depend on the jowar from the rabi season for food at home. We can go hungry, but we cannot let the cattle go hungry,” said Gaikwad.

Recently, Gaikwad paid Rs 1,500 to take home half an acre worth of crop for his animals — two bulls, two calves, one cow and one buffalo. “This fodder will last four-five days. Then, we will have to think of some alternative means to feed the animals,” he said.

Because of the drought, the prices of the animals have also gone down. When Gaikwad bought the cattle they cost him Rs 50,000, now the going rate is Rs 15,000.

Mane hopes that there will be rains and the cattle would be saved. “Farmers will be able to reap a crop at least for the cattle if not for themselves. We are planning for fodder deployment, in case drought is declared. Planning is also on for employment guarantee schemes,” he said.