Farmers in Uttar Pradesh resort to barter system

November 24, 2016 12:58 am | Updated 12:58 am IST - Bulandshahr/Baghpat:

Demonetisation and the subsequent cash crunch has forced many farmers and people living in rural areas of Uttar Pradesh to adopt the barter system once again.

“We are using the barter system as we have no cash. Landless farmers are working in our fields in exchange for vegetables and rice,” said Aadesh Rathi, a resident of Bagu- Santoshpur village in Baghpat.

‘Govt. has failed us’

“The government has failed to provide relief in rural areas. Bank branches and post offices here run out of cash very quickly. So we have decided to exchange food items with other people. We farm vegetables such as cauliflower and spinach. We have exchanged vegetables for paddy,” said Ashok Singh, a farmer from Baroli-Basdevpur in Bulandshahr.

“We have lost faith in the government.. Rural areas are totally neglected when it comes to distribution of fresh currency notes. The value of bartering items can be negotiated, but here we are not negotiating as it is not about business but about lives,” said Sunil Tyagi, a farmer from Siyana in Bulandshahr.

Some farmers are bartering seeds. “We are giving farmers seed on credit. Some are giving us vegetables,” said Than Singh, a farmer and a fertiliser dealer from Bulandshahr.

(The writer is a freelance journalist)

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.