Whenever the farm crisis gets mentioned vis-à-vis Vidarbha, it is generally the six cotton-producing districts of western Vidarbha, which get all the attention. And it is the male farmers who are portrayed as its victims. The focus this kharif season, however, has shifted to the five paddy-cultivating districts of eastern Vidarbha, mostly tribal. And the unusual victims here are the female farm labourers as much as the farm owners.

Thanks to poor rain, Nagpur, Chandrapur, Gadchiroli, Gondia and Bhandara have together received only between 60-70 per cent of average rainfall, only about 67 per cent (4.44 lakh ha) of the total area (6.85 lakh ha) has got sown, leading to a huge loss of employment to lakhs of women who earn almost their entire year’s income from this season.

“We normally get 60 days of employment spread over four months during this season. Till now, we have got only about 15 days and are hoping to get not more than 15 days more,” says Tarabai Bhanarkar of Jankapur in Nagbhid tehsil of Chandrapur district, which, according to the Agriculture Department here, is the worst affected tehsil in the paddy belt.

From the loss of employment angle, according to a rough estimate, the crisis has robbed about 10 lakh women farm labourers of their wages either fully or by nearly 50 per cent.

Says Vidyasagar Biradar, Assistant Professor at Punjabrao Krishi Vidyapeeth, one hectare of paddy farm would require a minimum of 30 women each for sowing, weeding and harvesting operation for completion of each operation in a day. Thus, for one hectare, 30 women get three days of employment for these three operations in a season.

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